THE

BOOK OF GENESIS.

This book is so called from its treating of the GENERATION,
that is, of the creation and beginning of the world. The Hebrews call it BERESITH,
from the Word with which it begins. It contains not only the history of Creation
of the world; but also an account of its progress during the space of 2369
years, that is, until the death of JOSEPH.

Chapter 1

God createth Heaven and Earth, and all things therein, in six days.

1 In the beginning God created heaven, and earth.

2 And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the
deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters.

3 And God said: Be light made. And light was made.

4 And God saw the light that it was good; and he divided the light from the
darkness.

5 And he called the light Day, and the darkness Night; and there was evening
and morning one day.

6 And God said: Let there be a firmament made amidst the waters: and let it
divide the waters from the waters.

7 And God made a firmament, and divided the waters that were under the
firmament, from those that were above the firmament, and it was so.

8 And God called the firmament, Heaven; and the evening and morning were the
second day.

9 God also said: Let the waters that are under the heaven, be gathered
together into one place: and let the dry land appear. And it was so done.

10 And God called the dry land, Earth; and the gathering together of the
waters, he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

11 And he said: Let the earth bring forth the green herb, and such as may
seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, which may have seed in
itself upon the earth. And it was so done.

12 And the earth brought forth the green herb, and such as yieldeth seed
according to its kind, and the tree that beareth fruit having seed each one
according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

14 And God said: Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven, to divide
the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days
and years:

15 To shine in the firmament of heaven, and to give light upon the earth. And
it was so done.

16 And God made two great lights: a greater light to rule the day; and a
lesser light to rule the night: and the stars.

17 And he set them in the firmament of heaven to shine upon the earth.

18 And to rule the day and the night, and to divide the light and the
darkness. And God saw that it was good.

19 And the evening and morning were the fourth day.

20 God also said: Let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having
life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the firmament of heaven.

21 And God created the great whales, and every living and moving creature,
which the waters brought forth, according to their kinds, and every winged fowl
according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

22 And he blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of
the sea: and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth.

23 And the evening and morning were the fifth day.

24 And God said: Let the earth bring forth the living creature in its kind,
cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth, according to their kinds.
And it was so done.

25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and cattle,
and every thing that creepeth on the earth after its kind. And God saw that it
was good.

26 And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have
dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts,
and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth.

27 And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him:
male and female he created them.

28 And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth,
and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air,
and all living creatures that move upon the earth.

29 And God said: Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed upon the
earth, and all trees that have in themselves seed of their own kind, to be your
meat:

30 And to all the beasts of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to
all that move upon the earth, and wherein there is life, that they may have to
feed upon. And it was so done.

31 And God saw all the things that he had made, and they were very good. And
the evening and morning were the sixth day.

God resteth on the seventh day and blesseth it. The earthly paradise, in
which God placeth man. He commandeth him not to eat of the tree of knowledge.
And formeth a woman of his rib.

1 So the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the furniture of them.

2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made: and he rested
on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.

3 And he blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because in it he had
rested from all his work which God created and made.

4 These are the generations of the heaven and the earth, when they were
created, in the day that the Lord God made the heaven and the earth:

5 And every plant of the field before it spring up in the earth, and every
herb of the ground before it grew: for the Lord God had not rained upon the
earth; and there was not a man to till the earth.

6 But a spring rose out the earth, watering all the surface of the earth.

7 And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into
his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.

8 And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure from the beginning:
wherein he placed man whom he had formed.

9 And the Lord God brought forth of the ground all manner of trees, fair to
behold, and pleasant to eat of: the tree of life also in the midst of paradise:
and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

10 And a river went out the place of pleasure to water paradise, which from
thence is divided into four heads.

11 The name of the one is Phison: that is it which compasseth all the land of
Hevilath, where gold groweth.

12 And the gold of that land is very good: there is found bdellium, and the
onyx stone.

13 And the name of the second river is Gehon: the same is it that compasseth
all the land of Ethiopia

14 And the name of the third river is Tigris: the same passeth along by the
Assyrians. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

15 And the Lord God took man, and put him into the paradise for pleasure, to
dress it, and keep it.

16 And he commanded him, saying: Of every tree of paradise thou shalt eat:

17 But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat. for in
what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death.

18 And the Lord God said: It is not good for man to be alone: let us make him
a help like unto himself.

19 And the Lord God having formed out of the ground all the beasts of the
earth, and all the fowls of the air, brought them to Adam to see what he would
call them: for whatsoever Adam called any living creature the same is its name.

20 And Adam called all the beasts by their names, and all the fowls of the
air, and all the cattle of the field: but for Adam there was not found a helper
like himself.

21 Then the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon Adam: and when he was fast asleep,
he took one of his ribs, and filled up flesh for it.

22 And the Lord God built the rib which he took from Adam into a woman: and
brought her to Adam.

23 And Adam said: This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she
shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.

24 Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his
wife: and they shall be two in one flesh.

25 And they were both naked: to wit, Adam and his wife: and were not ashamed.

The serpent's craft. The fall of our first parents. Their punishment. The
promise of a Redeemer.

1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth which
the Lord God made. And he said to the woman: Why hath God commanded you, that
you should not eat of every tree of paradise?

2 And the woman answered him, saying: Of the fruit of the trees that are in
paradise we do eat:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise, God hath
commanded us that we should not eat; and that we should not touch it, lest
perhaps we die.

4 And the serpent said to the woman: No, you shall not die the death.

5 For God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes
shall be opened: and you shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil.

6 And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and
delightful to behold: and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave
to her husband who did eat.

7 And the eyes of them both were opened: and when they perceived themselves
to be naked, they sewed together fig leaves, and made themselves aprons.

8 And when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in paradise at the
afternoon air, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God,
amidst the trees of paradise.

9 And the Lord God called Adam, and said to him: Where art thou?

10 And he said: I heard thy voice in paradise; and I was afraid, because I was
naked, and I hid myself.

11 And he said to him: And who hath told thee that thou wast naked, but that
thou hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat?

12 And Adam said: The woman, whom thou gavest me to be my companion, gave me
of the tree, and I did eat.

13 And the Lord God said to the woman: Why hast thou done this? And she
answered: The serpent deceived me, and I did eat.

14 And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because thou hast done this thing,
thou art cursed among all cattle, and the beasts of the earth: upon thy breast
shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.

15 I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed:
she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.

16 To the woman also he said: I will multiply thy sorrows, and thy
conceptions: in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children, and thou shalt be under
thy husband's power, and he shall have dominion over thee.

17 And to Adam he said: Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife,
and hast eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat,
cursed is the earth in thy work; with labor and toil shalt thou eat thereof all
the days of thy life.

18 Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou eat the herbs of
the earth.

19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the
earth, out of which thou wast taken: for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt
return.

20 And Adam called the name of his wife Eve: because she was the mother of all
the living.

21 And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife, garments of skins, and clothed
them.

22 And he said: Behold Adam is become as one of us, knowing good and evil:
now, therefore, lest perhaps he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of
life, and eat, and live for ever.

23 And the Lord God sent him out of the paradise of pleasure, to till the
earth from which he was taken.

24 And he cast out Adam; and placed before the paradise of pleasure Cherubims,
and a flaming sword, turning every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Chapter 4

The history of Cain and Abel.

1 And Adam knew Eve his wife: who conceived and brought forth Cain, saying:
I have gotten a man through God.

2 And again she brought forth his brother Abel. And Abel was a shepherd, and
Cain a husbandman.

3 And it came to pass after many days, that Cain offered, of the fruits of
the earth, gifts to the Lord.

4 Abel also offered of the firstlings of his flock, and of their fat: and the
Lord had respect to Abel, and to his offerings.

5 But to Cain and his offerings he had no respect: and Cain was exceedingly
angry, and his countenance fell.

6 And the Lord said to him: Why art thou angry? and why is thy countenance
fallen?

7 If thou do well, shalt thou not receive? but if ill, shall not sin
forthwith be present at the door? but the lust thereof shall be under thee, and
thou shalt have dominion over it.

8 And Cain said to Abel his brother: Let us go forth abroad. And when they
were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and slew him.

9 And the Lord said to Cain: Where is thy brother Abel? And he answered, I
know not: am I my brother's keeper?

10 And he said to him: What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood
crieth to me from the earth.

11 Now, therefore, cursed shalt thou be upon the earth, which hath opened her
mouth and received the blood of thy brother at thy hand,

12 When thou shalt till it, it shall not yield to thee its fruit: a fugitive
and vagabond shalt thou be upon the earth.

13 And Cain said to the Lord: My iniquity is greater than that I may deserve
pardon.

14 Behold thou dost cast me out this day from the face of the earth, and I
shall be hidden from thy face, and I shall be a vagabond and a fugitive on the
earth: everyone, therefore, that findeth me, shall kill me.

15 And the Lord said to him: No, it shall not be so: but whosoever shall kill
Cain, shall be punished sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, that
whosoever found him should not kill him.

16 And Cain went out from the face of the Lord, and dwelt as a fugitive on the
earth, at the east side of Eden.

17 And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived, and brought forth Henoch: and he
built a city, and called the name thereof by the name of his son Henoch.

19 Who took two wives: the name of the one was Ada, and the name of the other
was Sella.

20 And Ada brought forth Jabel: who was the father of such as dwell in tents,
and of herdsmen.

21 And his brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of them that play upon
the harp and the organs.

22 Sella also brought forth Tubalcain, who was a hammerer and artificer in
every work of brass and iron. And the sister of Tubalcain was Noema.

23 And Lamech said to his wives Ada and Sell: Hear my voice, ye wives of
Lamech, hearken to my speech: for I have slain a man to the wounding of myself,
and a stripling to my own bruising.

24 Sevenfold vengeance shall be taken for Cain: but for Lamech seventy times
sevenfold.

25 Adam also knew his wife again: and she brought forth a son, and called his
name Seth, saying: God hath given me another seed, for Abel whom Cain slew.

26 But to Seth also was born a son, whom he called Enos; this man began to
call upon the name of the Lord.

Chapter 5

The genealogy, age, and death of the Patriarchs, from Adam to Noe. The
translation of Henoch.

1 This is the book of the generation of Adam. In the day that God created
man, he made him to the likeness of God.

2 He created them male and female; and blessed them: and called their name
Adam, in the day when they were created.

3 And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begot a son to his own
image and likeness, and called his name Seth.

4 And the days of Adam, after he begot Seth, were eight hundred years: and he
begot sons and daughters.

5 And all the time that Adam lived came to nine hundred and thirty years,
and he died.

6 Seth also lived a hundred and five years, and begot Enos.

7 And Seth lived after he begot Enos, eight hundred and seven years, and
begot sons and daughters.

8 And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died.

9 And Enos lived ninety years, and begot Cainan.

10 After whose birth he lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and begot sons
and daughters.

11 And the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years, and he died.

12 And Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Malaleel.

13 And Cainan lived after he begot Malaleel, eight hundred forty years, and
begot sons and daughters.

14 And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.

15 And Malaleel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared.

16 And Malaleel lived after he begot Jared, eight hundred and thirty years,
and begot sons and daughters.

17 And all the days of Malaleel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and
he died.

18 And Jared lived a hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Henoch.

19 And Jared lived after he begot Henoch, eight hundred years, and begot sons
and daughters.

20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years, and he
died.

21 And Henoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Mathusala.

22 And Henoch walked with God: and lived after he begot Mathusala, three
hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

23 And all the days of Henoch were three hundred and sixty-five years.

24 And he walked with God, and was seen no more: because God took him.

25 And Mathusala lived a hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech.

26 And Mathusala lived after he begot Lamech, seven hundred and eighty-two
years, and begot sons and daughters.

27 And all the days of Mathusala were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and
he died.

28 And Lamech lived a hundred and eighty-two years, and begot a son.

29 And he called his name Noe, saying: This same shall comfort us from the
works and labours of our hands on the earth which the Lord hath cursed.

30 And Lamech lived after he begot Noe, five hundred and ninety-five years,
and he begot sons and daughters.

31 And all the days of Lamech came to seven hundred and seventy-seven years,
and he died. And Noe, when he was five hundred years old, begot Sem, Cham, and
Japheth.

Chapter 6

Man's sin is the cause of the deluge. Noe is commanded to build the ark.

1 And after that men began to be multiplied upon the earth, and daughters
were born to them.

2 The sons of God seeing the daughters of men, that they were fair, took
themselves wives of all which they chose.

3 And God said: My spirit shall not remain in man for ever, because he is flesh,
and his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.

4 Now giants were upon the earth in those days. For after the sons of God
went in to the daughters of men and they brought forth children, these are the
mighty men of old, men of renown.

5 And God seeing that the wickedness of men was great on the earth, and that
all the thought of their heart was bent upon evil at all times,

6 It repented him that he had made man on the earth. And being touched
inwardly with sorrow of heart,

7 He said: I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the
earth, from man even to beasts, from the creeping thing even to the fowls of the
air, for it repenteth me that I have made them.

8 But Noe found grace before the Lord.

9 These are the generations of Noe: Noe was a just and perfect man in his
generations, he walked with God.

10 And he begot three sons, Sem, Cham, and Japheth.

11 And the earth was corrupted before God, and was filled with iniquity.

12 And when God had seen that the earth was corrupted (for all flesh had
corrupted its way upon the earth,)

13 He said to Noe: The end of all flesh is come before me, the earth is filled
with iniquity through them, and I will destroy them with the earth.

14 Make thee an ark of timber planks: thou shalt make little rooms in the ark,
and thou shalt pitch it within and without.

15 And thus shalt thou make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred
cubits: the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

16 Thou shalt make a window in the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish the
top of it: and the door of the ark thou shalt set in the side: with lower,
middle chambers, and third stories shalt thou make it.

17 Behold I will bring the waters of a great flood upon the earth, to destroy
all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, under heaven. All things that are in the earth
shall be consumed.

18 And I will establish my covenant with thee, and thou shalt enter into the
ark, thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and the wives of thy sons with thee.

19 And of every living creature of all flesh, thou shalt bring two of each
sort into the ark, that they may live with thee: of the male sex, and the
female.

20 Of fowls according to their kind, and of beasts in their kind, and of every
thing that creepeth on earth according to its kind; two of every sort shall go
in with thee, that they may live.

21 Thou shalt take unto thee of all food that may be eaten, and thou shalt lay
it up with thee: and it shall be food for thee and them.

22 And Noe did all things which God commanded him.

Chapter 7

Noe with his family go into the ark. The deluge overflows the earth.

1 And the Lord said to him: Go in thou and all thy house into the ark: for
thee I have seen just before me in this generation.

2 Of all clean beasts take seven and seven, the male and female.

3 But of the beasts that are unclean two and two, the male and
female. Of the fowls also of the air seven and seven, the male and the
female: that seed may be saved upon the face of the whole earth.

4 For yet a while, and after seven days, I will rain upon the earth
forty days and forty nights; and I will destroy every substance that I
have made, from the face of the earth.

5 And Noe did all things which the Lord had commanded him.

6 And he was six hundred years old, when the waters of the flood
overflowed the earth.

7 And Noe went in and his sons, his wife and the wives of his sons
with him into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.

8 And of the beasts clean and unclean, and of fowls, and of every
thing that moveth upon the earth,

9 Two and two went in to Noe into the ark, male and female, as the
Lord had commanded Noe.

10 And after seven days were passed, the waters of the flood
overflowed the earth.

11 In the six hundreth year of the life of Noe in the second month,
in the seventeenth day of the month, all the fountains of the great
deep were broken up, and the flood gates of heaven were open:

12 And the rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

13 In the selfsame day Noe, and Sem, and Cham, and Japheth his sons:
his wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, went into the
ark:

14 They and every beast according to its kind, and all the cattle in
their kind, and every thing that moveth upon the earth according to
its kind, and every fowl according to its kind, and every fowl
according to its kind, all birds, and all that fly.

15 Went in to Noe into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein
was the breath of life.

16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as
God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in on the outside.

17 And the flood was forty days upon the earth, and the waters
increased, and lifted up the ark on high from earth.

18 For they overflowed exceedingly: and filled all on the face of
the earth: and the ark was carried upon the waters.

19 And the waters prevailed beyond measure upon the earth: and all
the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered.

20 The water was fifteen cubits higher than the mountains which it
covered.

21 And all flesh was destroyed that moved upon the earth, both of
fowl, and of cattle, and of beasts, and of all creeping things that
creep upon the earth: and all men.

22 And all things wherein there is the breath of life on the earth,
died.

23 And he destroyed all the substance that was upon the earth, from
man to beast, and the creeping things and fowls of the air: and they
were destroyed from the earth: and Noe only remained, and they that
were with him in the ark.

24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.

Chapter 8

The deluge ceaseth. Noe goeth out of the ark, and offereth a sacrifice.
God's covenant to him.

1 And God remembered Noe, and all the living creatures, and all the
cattle which were with him in the ark, and brought a wind upon the
earth, and the waters were abated.

2 The fountains also of the deep, and the flood gates of heaven
were shut up, and the rain from heaven was restrained.

3 And the waters returned from off the earth going and coming: and
they began to be abated after a hundred and fifty days.

4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, the seven and twentieth
day of the month, upon the mountains of Armenia.

5 And the waters were going and decreasing until the tenth month:
for in the tenth month, the first day of the month, the tops of the
mountains appeared.

6 And after that forty days were passed, Noe, opening the window of
the ark which he had made, sent forth a raven:

7 Which went forth and did not return, till the waters were dried
up upon the earth.

8 He sent forth also a dove after him, to see if the waters had now
ceased upon the face of the earth.

9 But she, not finding where her foot might rest, returned to him
into the ark: for the waters were upon the whole earth: and he put
forth his hand, and caught her, and brought her into the ark.

10 And having waited yet seven other days, he again sent forth the
dove out of the ark.

11 And she came to him in the evening, carrying a bough of an olive
tree, with green leaves, in her mouth. Noe therefore understood that
the waters were ceased upon the earth.

12 And he stayed yet other seven days: and he sent forth the dove,
which returned not any more unto him.

13 Therefore in the six hundreth and first year, the first month,
the first day of the month, the waters were lessened upon the earth,
and Noe opening the covering of the ark, looked, and saw that the face
of the earth was dried.

14 In the second month, the seven and twentieth day of the month,
the earth was dried.

15 And God spoke to Noe, saying:

16 Go out of the ark, thou and thy wife, thy sons, and the wives of
thy sons with thee.

17 All livings things that are with thee of all flesh, as well in
fowls as in beasts, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth,
bring out with thee, and go ye upon the earth: increased and
multiply upon it.

18 So Noe went out, he and his sons: his wife, and the wives of his
sons with him.

19 And all living things, and cattle, and creeping things that creep
upon the earth, according to their kinds, went out of the ark.

20 And Noe built an altar unto the Lord: and taking of all cattle
and fowls that were clean, offered holocausts upon the altar.

21 And the Lord smelled a sweet savour, and said: I will no more
curse the earth for the sake of man: for the imagination and thought
of man's heart are prone to evil from his youth: therefore I will no
more destroy every living soul as I have done.

22 All the days of the earth, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,
summer and winter, night and day, shall not cease.

Chapter 9

God blesseth Noe: forbiddeth blood, and promiseth never more to destroy
the world by water. The blessing of Sem and Japheth.

1 And God blessed Noe and his sons. And he said to them: Increase
and multiply, and fill the earth.

2 And let the fear and dread of you be upon all the beasts of the
earth, and upon all the fowls of the air, and all that move upon the
earth: all the fishes of the sea are delivered into your hand.

3 And every thing that moveth and liveth shall be meat for you:
even as the green herbs have I delivered them all to you:

4 Saving that flesh with blood you shall not eat.

5 For I will require the blood of your lives at the hand of every
beast, and at the hand of man, at the hand of every man, and of his
brother, will I require the life of man.

6 Whosoever shall shed man's blood, his blood shall be shed: for
man was made to the image of God.

7 But increase you and multiply, and go upon the earth, and fill
it.

8 This also said God to Noe, and to his sons with him,

9 Behold I will establish my covenant with you, and with your seed
after you:

10 And with every living soul that is with you, as well in all birds
as in cattle and beasts of the earth, that are come forth out of the
ark, and in all the beasts of the earth.

11 I will establish my covenant with you, and all flesh shall be no
more destroyed with the waters of a flood, neither shall there be from
henceforth a flood to waste the earth.

12 And God said: This is the sign of the covenant which I will give
between me and you, and to every living soul that is with you, for
perpetual generations.

13 I will set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be the sign of a
covenant between me, and between the earth.

14 And when I shall cover the sky with clouds, my bow shall appear
in the clouds:

15 And I will remember my covenant with you, and with every living
soul that beareth flesh: and there shall no more be waters of a flood
to destroy all flesh.

16 And the bow shall be in the clouds, and I shall see it, and shall
remember the everlasting covenant, that was made between God and every
living soul of all flesh which is upon the earth.

17 And God said to Noe: This shall be the sign of the covenant which
I have established between me and all flesh upon the earth.

18 And the sons of Noe who came out of the ark, were Sem, Cham, and
Japheth: and Cham is the father of Chanaan.

19 These three are the sons of Noe: and from these was all mankind
spread over the whole earth.

20 And Noe, a husbandman, began to till the ground, and planted a
vineyard.

21 And drinking of the wine was made drunk, and was uncovered in his
tent.

22 Which when Cham the father of Chaanan had seen, to wit, that his
father's nakedness was uncovered, he told it to his two brethren
without.

23 But Sem and Japheth put a cloak upon their shoulders, and going
backward, covered the nakedness of their father: and their faces were
turned away, and they saw not their father's nakedness.

24 And Noe awaking from the wine, when he had learned what his
younger son had done to him,

25 He said: Cursed be Chaanan, a servant of servants, shall he be
unto his brethren.

26 And he said: Blessed be the Lord God of Sem, be Chanaan his
servant.

27 May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Sem,
and Chanaan be his servant.

28 And Noe lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years:

29 And all his days were in the whole nine hundred and fifty years:
and he died.

Chapter 10

The genealogy of the children of Noe, by whom the world was peopled after
the flood.

1 These are the generations of the sons of Noe: Sem, Cham, and
Japheth: and unto them sons were born after the flood.

2 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and
Thubal, and Mosoch, and Thiras.

3 And the sons of Gomer: Ascenez and Riphath and Thogorma.

4 And the sons of Javan: Elisa and Tharsis, Cetthim, and Dodanim.

5 By these were divided the islands of the Gentiles in their lands,
every one according to his tongue and their families in their nations.

6 And the sons of Cham: Chus, and Mesram, and Phuth, and Chanaan.

7 And the sons of Chus: Saba and Hevila, and Sabatha, and Regma,
and Sabatacha. The sons of Regma: Saba and Dadan.

8 Now Chus begot Nemrod: he began to be mighty on earth.

9 And he was a stout hunter before the Lord. Hence came a proverb:
Even as Nemrod the stout hunter before the Lord.

10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babylon, and Arach, and
Achad, and Chalanne in the land of Sennaar.

11 Out of that land came forth Assur, and built Ninive, and the
streets of the city, and Chale.

12 Resen also between Ninive and Chale: this is the great city.

13 And Mesraim begot Ludim, and Anamim, and Laabim, Nepthuim,

14 And Phetrusim, and Chasluim; of whom came forth the Philistines,
and the Capthorim.

15 And Chanaan begot Sidon, his firstborn, the Hethite,

16 And the Jebusite, and the Amorrhite, and the Gergesite,

17 The Hevite and the Aracite: the Sinite,

18 And the Aradian, the Samarite, and the Hamathite: and afterwards
the families of the Chanaanites were spread abroad.

19 And the limits of Chanaan were from Sidon as one comes to Gerara
even to Gaza, until thou enter Sodom and Gomorrha, and Adama, and
Seboim even to Lesa.

20 These are the children of Cham in their kindreds, and tongues,
and generations, and lands, and nations.

21 Of Sem also, the father of all children of Heber, the elder
brother of Japheth, sons were born.

22 The sons of Sem: Elam and Assur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.

23 The sons of Aram: Us and Hull, and Gether: and Mess.

24 But Arphaxad begot Sale, of whom was born Heber.

25 And to Heber were born two sons: the name of the one was Phaleg,
because in his days the earth was divided: and his brother's name
Jectan.

26 Which Jectan begot Elmodad, and Saleph, and Asarmoth, Jare,

27 And Anduram, and Uzal, and Decla,

28 And Ebal, and Abimael, Saba,

29 And Ophir, and Hevila, and Jobab.

30 And their dwelling was from Messa as we go on as far as Sephar, a
mountain in the east.

31 These are the children of Sem according to their kindreds and
tongues, and countries in their nations.

32 These are the families of Noe, according to their peoples and
nations. By these were the nations divided on the earth after the
flood.

Chapter 11

The tower of Babel. The confusion of tongues. The genealogy of Sem down
to Abram.

1 And the earth was of one tongue, and of the same speech.

2 And when they removed from the east, they found a plain in the land
of Sennaar, and dwelt in it.

3 And each one said to his neighbour: Come, let us make brick, and bake
them of stones, and slime instead of mortar.

4 And they said: Come, let us make a city and a tower, the top whereof
may reach to heaven: and let us make our name famous before we be scattered
abroad into all lands.

5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the
children of Adam were building.

6 And he said: Behold, it is one people, and all have one tongue: and
they have begun to do this, neither will they leave off from their
designs, till they accomplish them in deed.

7 Come ye, therefore, let us go down, and there may not understand
one another's speech.

8 And so the Lord scattered them from that place into all lands, and
they ceased to build the city.

9 And therefore the name thereof was called Babel, because there the
language of the whole earth was confounded: and from thence the Lord
scattered them abroad upon the face of all countries.

10 These are the generations of Sem: Sem was a hundred years old when
he begot Arphaxad, two years old when he begot Arphaxad, two years after
the flood.

11 And Sem lived after he begot Arphaxad, five hundred years, and begot
sons and daughters.

12 And Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Sale.

13 And Arphaxad lived after he begot Sale, three hundred and three
years; and begot sons and daughters.

14 Sale also lived thirty years, and begot Heber.

15 And Sale lived after he begot Heber, four hundred and three years;
and begot sons and daughters.

16 And Heber lived thirty-four years, and begot Phaleg.

17 And Heber lived after he begot Phaleg, four hundred and thirty
years: and begot sons and daughters.

18 Phaleg also lived thirty years, and begot Reu.

19 And Phaleg lived after he begot Reu, two hundred and nine years,
and begot sons and daughters.

20 And Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Sarug.

21 And Reu lived after he begot Sarug, two hundred and seven years,
and begot sons and daughters.

22 And Sarug lived thirty years, and begot Nachor.

23 And Sarug lived after he begot Nachor, two hundred years: and begot
sons and daughters.

24 And Nachor lived nine and twenty years, and begot Thare.

25 And Nachor lived after he begot Thare, a hundred and nineteen
years: and begot sons and daughters.

26 And Thare lived seventy years, and begot Abram, and Nachor, and Aran.

27 And these are the generations of Thare: Thare begot Abram, Nachor,
and Aran. And Aran begot Lot.

28 And Aran died before Thare his father, in the land of his nativity
in Ur of the Chaldees.

29 And Abram and Nachor married wives: the name of Abram's wife was
Sarai: and the name of Nachor's wife, Melcha, the daughter of Aran,
father of Melcha, and father of Jescha.

30 And Sarai was barren, and had no children.

31 And Thare took Abram, his son, and Lot the son of Aran, his son's
son, and Sarai his daughter in law, the wife of Abram his son, and
brought them out of Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of
Chanaan: and they came as far as Haran, and dwelt there.

32 And the days of Thare were tow hundred and five years, and he died
in Haran.

Chapter 12

The call of Abram, and the promise made to him. He sojourneth in Chanaan,
and then by occasion of a famine, goeth down to Egypt.

1 And the Lord said to Abram: Go forth out of thy country, and from
thy kindred, and out of they father's house, and come into the land
which I shall shew thee.

2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee,
and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed.

3 I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee,
and IN THEE shall all the kindred of the earth be blessed:

4 So Abram went out as the Lord had commanded him, and Lot went with
him: Abram was seventy-five years old when he went forth from Haran.

5 And he took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all
the substance which they had gathered, and the souls which they had
gotten in Haran: and they went out to go into the land of Chanaan.
And when they were come into it,

6 Abram passed through the country into the place of Sichem, as far
as the noble vale: now the Chanaanite was at that time in the land.

7 And the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him: To thy seed will
I give this land. And he built there an altar to the Lord, who had
appeared to him.

8 And passing on from thence to a mountain, that was on the east
side of Bethel, he there pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west,
and Hai on the east; he built there also an altar to the Lord, and called
upon his name.

9 And Abram went forward, going, and proceeding on to the south.

10 And there came a famine in the country; and Abram went down into
Egypt, to sojourn there: for the famine was very grievous in the land.

11 And when he was near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife:
I know that thou art a beautiful woman:

12 And that when the Egyptians shall see thee, they will say: She is
his wife: and they will kill me, and keep thee.

13 Say, therefore, I pray thee, that thou art my sister: that I may
be well used for thee, and that my soul may live for thy sake.

14 And when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman
that she was very beautiful.

15 And the princes told Pharao, and praised her before him: and the
woman was taken into the house of Pharao.

16 And they used Abram well for her sake. And he had sheep and oxen,
and he asses, and menservants and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.

17 But the Lord scourged Pharao and his house with most grievous
stripes for Sarai, Abram's wife.

18 And Pharao called Abram, and said to him: What is this that thou
hast done to me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife.

19 For what cause didst thou say, she was thy sister, that I might
take her to my wife? Now therefore, there is thy wife, take her, and
go thy way.

20 And Pharao gave his men orders concerning Abram: and they led
him away, and his wife, and all that he had.

Chapter 13

Abram and Lot depart from each other. God's promise to Abram.

1 And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that
he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

2 And he was very rich in possession of gold and silver.

3 And he returned by the way that he came, from the south to Bethel,
to the place where before he had pitched his tent between Bethel and Hai:

4 In the place of the altar which he had made before; and there he
called upon the name of the Lord.

5 But Lot also, who was with Abram, had flocks of sheep, and herds
of beasts, and tents.

6 Neither was the land able to bear them, that they might dwell
together: for their substance was great, and they could not dwell together.

7 Whereupon also there arose a strife between the herdsmen of
Abram and of Lot. And at that time the Chanaanite and the Pherezite
dwelled in that country.

8 Abram therefore said to Lot: Let there be no quarrel, I beseech
thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen:
for we are brethren.

9 Behold the whole land is before thee: depart from me I pray thee:
if thou wilt go to the left hand, I will take the right: if thou choose
the right hand, I will pass to the left.

10 And Lot, lifting up his eyes, saw all the country about the Jordan,
which was watered throughout, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and
Gomorrha, as the paradise of the Lord, and like Egypt as one comes
to Segor.

11 And Lot chose to himself the country about the Jordan, and he
departed from the east: and they were separated one brother from the other.

12 Abram dwelt in the land of Chanaan; and Lot abode in the towns
that were about the Jordan, and dwelt in Sodom.

13 And the men of Sodom were very wicked, and sinners before the
face of the Lord, beyond measure.

14 And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him:
Lift up thy eyes, and look from the place wherein thou now art, to
the north and to the south, to the east and to the west.

15 All the land which thou seest, I will give to thee, and to thy
seed for ever.

16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: if any man
be able to number the dust of the earth, he shall be able to number
thy seed also.

17 Arise and walk through the land in the length, and in the
breadth thereof: for I will give it to thee.

18 So Abram removing his tent came and dwelt by the vale of Mambre,
which is in Hebron: and he built there an altar to the Lord.

Chapter 14

The expedition of the four kings; the victory of Abram; he is blessed by
Melchisedech.

1 And it came to pass at that time, that Amraphel king of Sennaar,
and Arioch king of Pontus, and Chodorlahomor king of the Elamites, and
Thadal king of nations,

2 Made war against Bara king of Sodom, and against Bersa king of
Gomorrha, and against Sennaab king of Adama, and against Semeber king
of Seboim, and against the king of Bala, which is Segor.

3 All these came together into the woodland vale, which now is
the salt sea.

4 For they had served Chodorlahomor twelve years, and in the
thirteenth year they revolted from him.

5 And in the fourteenth year came Chodorlahomor, and the kings
that were with him: and they smote the Raphaim in Astarothcarnaim,
and the Zuzim with them, and the Emim in Save of Cariathaim.

6 And the Chorreans in the mountains of Seir, even to the plains
of Pharan, which is in the wilderness.

7 And they returned, and came to the fountain of Misphat, the
same is Cades: and they smote all the country of the Amalecites, and
the Amorrhean that dwelt in Asasonthamar.

8 And the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrha, and the king
of Adama, and the king of Seboim, and the king of Bala, which is Segor,
went out: and they set themselves against them in battle array in the
woodland vale:

9 To wit, against Chodorlahomor king of the Elamites, and Thadal
king of nations, and Amraphel king of Sennaar, and Arioch king of
Pontus: four kings against five.

10 Now the woodland vale had many pits of slime. And the king of
Sodom, and the king of Gomorrha turned their backs and were overthrown
there: and they that remained fled to the mountain.

11 And they took all the substance of the Sodomites, and Gomorrhites,
and all their victuals, and went their way:

12 And Lot also, the son of Abram's brother, who dwelt in Sodom, and
his substance.

13 And behold one that had escaped told Abram the Hebrew, who dwelt
in the vale of Mambre the Amorrhite, the brother of Escol, and the
brother of Aner: for these had made league with Abram.

14 Which when Abram had heard, to wit, that his brother Lot was taken,
he numbered of the servants born in his house, three hundred and
eighteen well appointed: and pursued them to Dan.

15 And dividing his company, he rushed upon them in the night:
and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hoba, which is on the
left hand of Damascus.

16 And he brought back all the substance, and Lot his brother, with
his substance, the women also the people.

17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after he returned
from the slaughter of Chodorlahomor, and of the kings that were with
him in the vale of Save, which is the king's vale.

18 But Melchisedech the king of Salem, bringing forth bread and
wine, for he was the priest of the most high God,

19 Blessed him, and said: Blessed be Abram by the most high God,
who created heaven and earth.

20 And blessed be the most high God, by whose protection the enemies
are in thy hands. And he gace him the tithes of all.

21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram: Give me the persons, and the
rest take to thyself.

22 And he answered him: I lift up my hand to the Lord God the most
high, the possessor of heaven and earth,

23 That from the very woof thread unto the shoe latchet, I will not
take of any things that are thine, lest thou say I have enriched Abram:

24 Except such things as the young men have eaten, and the shares of
the men that came with me, Aner, Escol, and Mambre: these shall take
their shares.

Chapter 15

God promiseth see to Abram. His faith, sacrifice and vision.

1 Now when these things were done, the word of the Lord came to
Abram by a vision, saying: Fear not, Abram, I am thy protector, and
thy reward exceeding great.

2 And Abram said: Lord God, what wilt thou give me? I shall go
without children: and the son of the steward of my house is this
Damascus Eliezer.

3 And Abram added: But to me thou hast not given seed: and lo my
servant, born in my house, shall be my heir.

4 And immediately the word of the Lord came to him, saying: He shall
not be thy heir: but he that shall come out of thy bowels, him shalt thou
have for thy heir.

5 And he thought him forth abroad, and said to him: Look up to
heaven and number the stars, if thou canst. And he said to him: So
shall thy seed be.

6 Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice.

7 And he said to him: I am the Lord who brought thee out from Ur
of the Chaldees, to gibe thee this land, and that thou mightest possess it.

8 But he said: Lord God, whereby may I know that I shall possess it?

9 And the Lord answered, and said: Take me a cow of three years old,
and a she goat of three years, and a ram of three years, a turtle also,
and a pigeon.

10 And he took all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid
the two pieces of each one against the other; but the birds he divided not.

11 And the fowls came down upon carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

12 And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a
great and darksome horror seized upon him.

13 And it was said unto him: Know thou beforehand that thy seed shall
be a stranger in a land not their own, and they shall bring them under
bondage, and afflict them four hundred years.

14 But I will judge the nation which they shall serve, and after this
they shall come out with great substance.

15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and be buried in a
good old age.

16 But in the fourth generation they shall return hither: for as yet
the iniquities of the Amorrhites are not at the full until this
present time.

17 And when the sun was set, there arose a dark mist, and there
appeared a smoking furnace and a lamp of fire passing between those
divisions.

18 That day God made a covenant with Abram, saying: To thy seed
will I give this land, from the river of Egypt even to the great
river Euphrates.

19 The Cineans and Cenezites, the Cedmonites,

20 And the Hethites, and the Pherezites, the Raphaim also,

21 And the Amorrhites, and the Chanaanits, and the Gergesites,
and the Jebusites.

Chapter 16

Abram marrieth Agar, who bringeth forth Ismael.

1 Now Sarai the wife of Abram, had brought forth no children;
having a handmaid, an Egyptian, named Agar,

2 She said to her husband: Behold, the
Lord hath restrained me from bearing:
go in unto my handmaid, it may be I
may have children of her at least. And
when he agreed to her request,

3 She took Agar the Egyptian her
handmaid, ten years after they first
dwelt in the land of Chanaan, and gave
her to her husband to wife.

4 And he went in to her. But she, perceiving that she was with child, despised
her mistress.

5 And Sarai said to Abram: Thou dost
unjustly with me: I gave my handmaid
into thy bosom, and she perceiving herself
to be with child, despiseth me. The
Lord judge between me and thee.

6 And Abram made answer, and said to
her: Behold thy handmaid is in thy own
hand, use her its it pleaseth thee. And
when Sarai afflicted her, she ran away.

7 And the angel of the Lord having
found her, by a fountain of water in the
wilderness, which is in the way to Sur in
the desert,

8 He said to her: Agar, handmaid of
Sarai, whence comest thou? and whither
goest thou? And she answered: I flee
from the face of Sarai, my mistress.

9 And the angel of the Lord said to
her: Return to thy mistress, and humble
thyself under her hand.

10 And again he said: I will multiply
thy seed exceedingly, and it shall not be
numbered for multitude.

11 And again: Behold, said he, thou
art with child, and thou shalt bring forth
a son: and thou shalt call his name
Ismael, because the Lord hath heard
thy affliction.

12 He shall be a wild man: his hand
will be against all men, and all men's
hands against him: and he shall pitch
his tents over against all his brethren.

13 And she called the name of the
Lord that spoke unto her: Thou the
God who hast seen me. For she said:
Verily here have I seen the hinder parts
of him that seeth me.

14 Therefore she called that well, The
well of him that liveth and seeth me.
The same is between Cades and Bared.

15 And Agar brought forth a son to
Abram: who called his name Ismael.

16 Abram was fourscore and six years
old when Agar brought him forth Ismael.

Chapter 17

The covenant of circumcision.

1 And after he began to be ninety and
nine years old, the Lord appeared
to him: and said unto him: I am the
Almighty God: walk before me, and be
perfect.

2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee: and I will multiply
thee exceedingly.

3 Abram tell flat on his face.

4 And God said to him: I AM, and my
covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be
a father. of many nations.

5 Neither shall thy name be called any
more Abram: but thou shalt be called
Abraham: because I have made thee a
father of many nations.

6 And I will make thee increase, exceedingly, and I will make nations of
thee, and kings shall come out of thee.

7 And I will establish my covenant
between me and thee, and between thy
sad after thee in their generations, by
a perpetual covenant: to be a God to
thee, and to thy seed after thee.

8 And I will give to thee, and to thy
seed, the land of thy sojournment, all the
land of Chanaan for a perpetual possession, and I will be their God.

9 Again God said to Abraham: And
thou therefore shalt keep my covenant,
and thy seed after thee in their generations.

10 This is my covenant which you shall
observe, between me and you, and thy
seed after thee: All the male kind of
you shall be circumcised:

11 And you shall circumcise the flesh of
your foreskin, that it may be for a h sign
of the covenant between me and you.

12 An infant of eight days old shall be
circumcised among you, every man child
in your generations: he that is born in
the house, as well as the bought servant
shall be circumcised, and whosoever is
not of your stock:

13 And my covenant shall be in your
flesh for a perpetual covenant.

14 The male, whose dash of his foreskin
shall not be circumcised, that soul shall
be destroyed out of his people: because
he hath broken my covenant.

15 God said also to Abraham: Sarai
thy wife thou shalt not call Sarai, but
Sara.

16 And I will bless her, and of her I will
give thee a son, whom I will bless, and
he shell become nations, and kings of
people shall spring from him.

17 Abraham fell upon his face, and
laughed, saying in his heart: Shall a
son, thinkest thou, be born to him that
is a hundred years old? and shall Sara
that is ninety years old bring forth?

18 And he said to God: O that Ismael
may live before thee.

19 And God said to Abraham: Sara
thy wife shall bear thee a son, and thou
shalt call his name Isaac, and I will
establish my covenant with him for a
perpetual covenant, and with his seed
after him.

20 And as for Ismael I have also heard
thee. Behold, I will bless him, and
increase, and multiply him exceedingly:
he shall beget twelve chiefs, and I will
make him a great nation.

21 But my covenant I will establish
with Isaac, whom Sara shall bring forth
to thee at this time in the next year.

22 And when he had left oil speaking
with him, God went up from Abraham.

23 And Abraham took Ismael his son,
and all that were born in his house: and
all whom he had bought, every male
among the men of his house: and he
circumcised the flesh of their foreskin
forthwith the very same day, as God
had commanded him.

24 Abraham was ninety and nine years
old, when he circumcised the flesh of his
foreskin.

25 And Ismael his son was full thirteen
years old at the time of his circumcision.

28 The selfsame day was Abraham circumcised and Ismael his son.

27 And all the men of his house, as
well they that were born in his house, as
the bought servants and strangers were
circumcised with him.

Chapter 18

Angels are entertained by Abraham. They foretell the birth of Isaac.
Abraham's prayer for the men of Sodom.

1 And the Lord appeared to him in the
vale of Mambre as he was sitting
at the door of his tent, in the very heat
of the day.

2 And when he had lifted up his eyes,
there appeared to him three men standing near him: and as soon as he saw
them he ran to meet them from the door
of his tent, and adored down to the
ground.

3 And he said: Lord, if I have found
favour in thy sight, pass not away from
thy servant:

4 But I will fetch a little water, and
wash ye your feet, and rest ye under the
tree.

5 And I will set a morsel of bread, and
strengthen ye your heart, afterwards you
shall pass on: for therefore are you
come aside to your servant. And they
said: Do as thou hast spoken.

6 Abraham made haste into the tent to
Sera, and said to her: Make haste, temper together three measures of flour, and
make cakes upon the hearth.

7 And he himself ran to the herd, and
took from thence a calf very tender and
very good, and gave it to a young man:
who made haste and boiled it.

8 He took also butter and milk, and the
calf which he had boiled, and set before
them: but he stood by them under the
tree.

9 And when they had eaten, they said
to him: Where is Sara thy wife? He
answered: Lo, she is in the tent.

10 And he said to him: I will return
and come to thee at this time, life accompanying and Sara thy wife shall have
a son. Which when Sara heard, she
laughed behind the door of the tent.

11 Now they were both old, and far
advanced in years, and it had ceased to
be with Sara after the manner of women.

12 And she laughed secretly, saying:
After I am grown old

1 and my lord is an
old man, shall I give myself to pleasure?

13 And the Lord said to Abraham: Why
did Sera laugh, saying: Shall I who am
an old woman bear a child indeed ?

14 Is there any thing hard to God?
according to appointment I will return
to thee at this same time, life accompanying, and Sara shall have a son.

15 Sara denied, saying: I did not
laugh: for she was afraid. But the
Lord said, Nay: but thou didst laugh:

16 And when the men rose up from
thence, they turned their eyes towards
Sodom: and Abraham walked with them,
bringing them on the way.

17 And the Lord said: Can I hide from
Abraham what I am about to do:

18 "Seeing he shall become a great
and mighty nation, and in him all the
nations of the earth shall be blessed?

19 For I know that he will command
his children, and his household after
him to keep the way of the Lord, and
do judgment and justice: that for Abraham's sake the Lord may bring to effect
all the things he hath spoken unto him.

20 And the Lord said: The cry of
Sodom and Gomorrha is multiplied, and
their sin is become exceedingly grievous.

21 I will go down and see whether they
have done according to the cry that is
come to me: or whether it be not so,
that I may know.

22 And they turned themselves from
thence, and went their way to Sodom: but
Abraham as yet stood before the Lord.

23 And drawing nigh he said: Wilt
thou destroy the just with the wicked?

24 If there be fifty just men in the city,
shall they perish withal? and wilt thou
not spare that place for the sake of the
fifty just, if they be therein?

25 Far be it from thee to do this thing,
and to slay the just with the wicked, and
for the just to be in like case as the
wicked, this is not beseeming thee:
thou who judgest all the earth, wilt not
make this judgment.

26 And the Lord said to him: If I And
in Sodom fifty just within the city, I
will spare the whole place for their sake.

27 And Abraham answered, and said:
Seeing I have once begun, I will speak to
my Lord, whereas I am dust and ashes.

28 What if there be Ave less than fifty
just persons? wilt thou for five and
forty destroy the whole city? And he
said: I will not destroy it, if I find five
and forty.

29 And again he said to him: But if
forty be found there, what wilt thou do?
He said: I will not destroy it for the
sake of forty.

30 Lord, saith he, be not angry, I beseech thee, if I speak: What if thirty
shall be found there? He answered: I
will not do it, if I And thirty there.

31 Seeing, saith he, I have once begun,
I will speak to my Lord. What if
twenty be found there? He said: I will
not destroy it for the sake of twenty.

32 I beseech thee, saith he, be not
angry, Lord, if I speak yet once more:
What if tell should be found there ? And
he said: I will not destroy it for the
sake of ten.

33 And the Lord departed, after he had
left speaking to Abraham: and Abraham
returned to his place.

Lot, entertaining Angels in his house, is delivered from Sodom, which is
destroyed: his wife for looking back is turned into a statue of salt.

1 And the two angels came to Sodom
ii in the evening, and Lot was sitting
in the gate of the city. And seeing them,
he rose up and went to meet them: and
worshipped prostrate to the ground,

2 And said: I beseech you, my lords,
turn in to the house of your servant, and
lodge there: wash your feet, and in the
morning you shall go on your way. And
they said: No, but we will abide in the
street.

3 He pressed them very much to turn in
unto him: and when they were come in
to his house, he made them a feast, and
baked unleavened bread and they ate:

4 But before they went to bed, the men
of the city beset the house both young
and old, all the people together.

5 And they called Lot, and said to him:
Where are the men that came in to thee
at night? bring them out hither that we
may know them:

6 Lot went out to them, and shut the
door after him, and said:

7 no not so, I beseech you, my brethren,
do not commit this evil.

8 I have two daughters who as yet have
not known man : I will bring them out to
you, and abuse you them as it shall please
you, so that you do no evil to these men,
because they are come in under the
shadow of my roof.

9 But they said: Get thee back thither.
And again: Thou camest in, said they,
as a, stranger, was it to be a judge?
therefore we will afflict thee more than
them. And they pressed very violently
upon Lot: and they were even at the
point of breaking open the doors.

10 And behold the men put out their
hand, and drew in Lot unto them, and
shut the door:

11 And them that were without, they
struck with blindness from the least to
the greatest, so that they could not find
the door.

12 And they said to Lot: Hast thou here
ally of thine? son in law, or sons, or
daughters, all that are thine bring them
out of this city:

13 For we will destroy this place, because
their cry is grown loud before the Lord,
who hath sent us to destroy them.

14 So Lot went out, and spoke to his
sons in law that were to have his daughters, and said : Arise : get you out of this
place, because the Lord will destroy this
city. And he seemed to them to speak
as it were in jest.

15 And when it was morning, the angels
pressed him, saying: Arise, take thy wife,
and the two daughters which thou hast:
lest thou also perish in the wickedness of
the city.

16 And as he lingered, they took his hand,
and the hand of his wife, and of his two
daughters, because the Lord spared him.

17 And they brought him forth, and set
him without the city: and there they
spoke to him, saying : Save thy life : look
not back, neither stay thou in all the
country about: but save thyself in the
mountain, lest thou be also consumed.

18 And Lot said to them: I beseech thee
my Lord,

19 Because thy servant hath found grace
before thee, and thou hast magnified thy
mercy, which thou hast shewn to me, in
saving my life, and I cannot escape to the
mountain, lest some evil seize me, and I
die :

20 There is this city here at hand, to
which I may flee, it is a little one, and I
shall be saved in it: is it not a little one,
and my soul shall live?

21 And he said to him: Behold also in
this, I have heard thy prayers, not to destroy the city for which thou hast spoken.

22 Make haste and be saved there, because I cannot do any thing till thou go
in thither. Therefore the name of that
city was called Segor.

23 The sun was risen upon the earth,
and Lot entered into Segor.

24 And the Lord rained upon Sodom
and Gomorrha brimstone and fire from
the Lord out of heaven.

25 And he destroyed these cities, and all
the country about, all the inhabitants of
the cities, and all things that spring from
the earth.

26 And his wife looking behind her,
was turned into a statue of salt.

27 And Abraham got up early in the
morning and in the place where he had
stood before with the Lord, U

28 He looked towards Sodom and Gomorrha, and the whole land of that
country: and he saw the ashes rise up
from the earth as the smoke of a furnace.

29 Now when God destroyed the cities
of that country, remembering Abraham,
he delivered Lot out of the destruction
of the cities wherein he had dwelt.

30 And Lot went up out of Segor, and
abode in the mountain, and his two daughters with him, (for he was afraid to stay
in Segor,) and he dwelt in a cave, he and
his two daughters with him.

31 And the elder said to the younger
Our father is old, and there is no man left
on the earth, to come in unto us after the
manner of the whole earth.

32 Come, let us make him drunk with
wine, and let us lie with him, that we may
preserve seed of our father.

33 And they made their father drink
wine that night: and the elder went in
and lay with her father : but he perceived
not neither when his daughter lay down,
nor when she rose up.

34 And the next day the elder said to
the younger : Behold I lay last night with
my father, let us make him drink wine
also to night, and thou shalt lie with him,
that we may save seed of our father.

35 They made their father drink wine
that night also, and the younger daughter went in, and lay with him: and neither
then did he perceive when she lay down,
nor when she rose up.

36 the two daughters of Lot were
with child by their father.

37 And the elder bore a son, and
called his name Moab: he is the father
of the Moabites unto this day.

38 The younger also bore a son, and
called his name Ammon, that is, the son
of my people: he is the father of the
Ammonites unto this day.

Chapter 20

Abraham sojourned in Gerara: Sara is taken into king Abimetech's house,
but by God's commandment is restored untouched.

1 Abraham removed from thence to
the south country, and dwelt between Cedes and Sur, and sojourned in
Gerara.

2 And he said of Sara his wife: She is
my sister. So Abimelech the king of
Oerara sent, and took her.

3 And God came to Abimelech in a
dream by night, and he said to him:
Lo thou shalt die for the woman thou
hast taken: for she hath a husband.

4 Now Abimelech had not touched her,
and he said : Lord, wilt thou slay a nation,
that is ignorant and justl

5 Did not he say to me : She is my sister:
and she say, He is my brother? in the
simplicity of my heart, and cleanness of
my hands have I done this.

6 And God said to him: And I know
that thou didst it with a sincere heart:
and therefore I withheld thee from sinning against me, and I suffered thee not
to touch her.

7 Now therefore restore the man his
wife, for he is a prophet: and he shall pray
for thee, and thou shalt live: but if thou
wilt not restore her, know that thou shalt
surely die, thou and all that are thins.

8 And Abimelech forthwith rising up in
the night, called all his servants: and
spoke all these words in their hearing,
and all the men were exceedingly afraid.

9 And Abimelech called also for Abraham, and said to him: What hast thou
done to us? what have we offended thee
in, that thou hast brought upon me and
upon my kingdom a great sin? thou
hast done to us what thou oughtest not
to do.

10 And again he expostulated with him,
and said, What sawest thou, that thou
hast done this?

11 Abraham answered: I thought with
myself, saying: Perhaps there is not the
fear of God in this place: and they will
kill me for the sake of my wife:

12 Howbeit, otherwise also she is truly
my sister, the daughter of my father,
and not the daughter of my mother, and
I took her to wife.

13 And after God brought me out of my
father's house, I said to her: I Thou shalt
do me this kindness: In every place, to
which we shall come, thou shalt say that
I am thy brother.

14 And Abimelech took sheep and oxen,
and servants and handmaids, and gave to
Abraham: and restored to him Sara, his
wife.

16 And said: The land is before you,
dwell wheresoever it shall please thee.

16 And to Sara he said: Behold I have
given thy brother a thousand pieces of
silver: this shall serve thee for a covering of thy eyes to all that are with thee,
and whithersoever thou shalt go: and
remember thou wast taken.

17 And when Abraham prayed, God
healed Abimelech and his wife, and his
handmaids, and they bore children:

18 For the Lord had closed up every
womb of the house of Abimelech on ac-
count of Sara, Abraham's wife.

Chapter 21

Isaac is born. Agar and Ismael are cast forth.

1 And the Lord visited Sara, as he had promised: and fulfilled what
he had spoken.

2 And she conceived and bore a son in her old age, at the time that
God had foretold her.

3 And Abraham called the name of his son, whom Sara bore him, Isaac.

4 And he circumcised him the eighth day, as God had commanded him,

5 When he was a hundred years old: for at this age of his father
was Isaac born.

6 And Sara said: God hath made a laughter for me: whosoever shall
hear of it will laugh with me.

7 And again she said: Who would believe that Abraham should hear
that Sara gave suck to a son, whom she bore to him in his old age.

8 And the child grew and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast
on the day of his weaning.

9 And when Sara had seen the son of Agar the Egyptian playing with
Isaac her son, she said to Abraham:

10 Cast out this bondwoman, and her son: for the son of the
bondwoman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.

11 Abraham took this grievously for his son.

12 And God said to him: Let it not seem grievous to thee for the
boy, and for thy bondwoman: in all that Sara hath said to thee, hearken
to her voice: for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

13 But I will make the son also of the bondwoman a great nation,
because he is thy seed.

14 So Abraham rose up in the morning, and taking bread and a bottle
of water, put it upon her shoulder, and delivered the boy, and sent her
away. And she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Bersabee.

15 And when the water in the bottle was spent, she cast the boy
under one of the trees that were there.

16 And she went her way, and sat over against him a great way off
as far as a bow can carry, for she said: I will not see the boy die: and
sitting over against, she lifted up her voice and wept.

17 And God heard the voice of the boy: and an angel of God called
to Agar from heaven, saying: What art thou doing, Agar? fear not: for
God hath heard the voice of the boy, from the place wherein he is.

18 Arise, take up the boy, and hold him by the hand: for I will
make him a great nation.

19 And God opened her eyes: and she saw a well of water, and went
and filled the bottle, and gave the boy to drink.

20 And God was with him: and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness,
and became a young man, an archer.

21 And he dwelt in the wilderness of Pharan, and his mother took a
wife for him out of the land of Egypt.

22 At the same time Abimelech, and Phicol the general of his army
said to Abraham: God is with thee in all that thou dost.

23 Swear therefore by God, that thou wilt not hurt me, nor my
posterity, nor my stock: but according to the kindness that I have done
to thee, thou shalt do to me, and to the land wherein thou hast lived a
stranger.

24 And Abraham said: I will swear.

25 And he reproved Abimelech for a well of water, which his
servants had taken away by force.

26 And Abimelech answered: I knew not who did this thing: and thou
didst not tell me, and I heard not of it till today.

27 And Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech: and
both of them made a league.

28 And Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs of the flock.

29 And Abimelech said to him: What mean these seven ewe lambs which
thou hast set apart?

30 But he said: Thou shalt take seven ewe lambs at my hand: that
they may be a testimony for me, that I dug this well.

31 Therefore that place was called Bersabee: because both of them
did swear.

32 And they made a league for the well of oath.

33 And Abimelech, and Phicol the general of his army arose and
returned to the land of the Palestines. But Abraham planted a grove in
Bersabee, and there called upon the name of the Lord God eternal.

34 And he was a sojourner in the land of the Palestines many days.

Chapter 22

The faith and obedience of Abraham is proved in his readiness to
sacrifice his son Isaac. He is stayed from the act by an Angel. Former promises
are renewed to him. His brother Nachor's issue.

1 After these things, God tempted Abraham, and said to him:
Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am.

2 He said to him: Take thy only begotten son Isaac, whom thou
lovest, and go into the land of vision: and there thou shalt offer him
for a holocaust upon one of the mountains which I will show thee.

3 So Abraham rising up in the night, saddled his ass: and took with
him two young men, and Isaac his son: and when he had cut wood for the
holocaust he went his way to the place which God had commanded him.

4 And on the third day, lifting up his eyes, he saw the place afar off.

5 And he said to his young men: Stay you here with the ass: I and
the boy will go with speed as far as yonder, and after we have
worshipped, will return to you.

6 And he took the wood for the holocaust, and laid it upon Isaac
his son: and he himself carried in his hands fire and a sword. And as
they two went on together,

7 Isaac said to his father: My father. And he answered: What wilt
thou, son? Behold, saith he, fire and wood: where is the victim for the
holocaust?

8 And Abraham said: God will provide himself a victim for an
holocaust, my son. So they went on together.

9 And they came to the place which God had shown him, where he
built an altar, and laid the wood in order upon it: and when he had
bound Isaac his son, he laid him on the altar upon the pile of wood.

10 And he put forth his hand and took the sword, to sacrifice his son.

11 And behold an angel of the Lord from heaven called to him,
saying: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am.

12 And he said to him: Lay not thy hand upon the boy, neither do
thou any thing to him: now I know that thou fearest God, and hast not
spared thy only begotten son for my sake.

13 Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw behind his back a ram
amongst the briers sticking fast by the horns, which he took and offered
for a holocaust instead of his son.

14 And he called the name of that place, The Lord seeth. Whereupon
even to this day it is said: In the mountain the Lord will see.

15 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from
heaven, saying:

16 By my own self have I sworn, saith the Lord: because thou hast
done this thing, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my sake:

17 I will bless thee, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of
heaven, and as the sand that is by the seashore: thy seed shall possess
the gates of their enemies.

18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,
because thou hast obeyed my voice.

19 Abraham returned to his young men, and they went to Bersabee
together, and he dwelt there.

20 After these things, it was told Abraham that Melcha also had
borne children to Nachor his brother.

21 Hus the firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Camuel the father of
the Syrians,

22 And Cased, and Azau, and Pheldas, and Jedlaph,

23 And Bathuel, of whom was born Rebecca: These eight did Melcha
bear to Nachor Abraham's brother.

24 And his concubine, named Roma, bore Tabee, and Gaham, and Tahas,
and Maacha.

Chapter 23

Sara's death and burial in the field bought of Ephron.

1 And Sara lived a hundred and twenty-seven years.

2 And she died in the city of Arbee which is Hebron, in the land of
Chanaan: and Abraham came to mourn and weep for her.

3 And after he rose up from the funeral obsequies, he spoke to the
children of Heth, saying:

4 I am a stranger and sojourner among you: give me the right of a
burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead.

5 The children of Heth answered, saying:

6 My Lord, hear us, thou art a prince of God among us: bury thy
dead in our principle sepulchers: and no man shall have power to hinder
thee from burying thy dead in his sepulcher.

7 Abraham rose up, and bowed down to the people of the land, to wit
the children of Heth:

8 And said to them: If it please your soul that I should bury my
dead, hear me, and intercede for me to Ephron the son of Seor.

9 That he may give me the double cave, which he hath in the end of
his field: for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me before
you, for a possession of a buryingplace.

10 Now Ephron dwelt in the midst of the children of Heth. And
Ephron made answer to Abraham in the hearing of all that went in at the
gate of the city, saying:

11 Let it not be so, my lord, but do thou rather hearken to what I
say: The field I deliver to thee, and the cave that is therein, in the
presence of the children of my people, bury thy dead.

12 Abraham bowed down before the people of the land,

13 And he spoke to Ephron, in the presence of the people: I beseech
thee to hear me: I will give money for the field: take it, and so I will
bury my dead in it.

14 And Ephron answered:

15 My lord, hear me. The ground which thou desirest, is worth four
hundred sicles of silver: this is the price between me and thee: but
what is this? bury thy dead.

16 And when Abraham had heard this, he weighed out the money that
Ephron had asked, in the hearing of the children of Heth, four hundred
sicles of silver of common current money.

17 And the field that before was Ephron's, wherein was the double
cave, looking towards Mambre, both it and the cave, and all the trees
thereof in all its limits round about,

18 Was made sure to Abraham for a possession, in the sight of the
children of Heth, and of all that went in at the gate of his city.

19 And so Abraham buried Sara his wife, in a double cave of the
field, that looked towards Mambre, this is Hebron in the land of Chanaan.

20 And the field was made sure to Abraham, and the cave that was in
it, for a possession to bury in, by the children of Heth.

Chapter 24

Abraham's servant, sent by him into Mesopotamia, bringeth from thence
Rebecca, who is married to Isaac.

1 Now Abraham was old; and advanced in age: and the Lord had
blessed him in all things.

2 And he said to the elder servant of his house, who was ruler over
all he had: Put thy hand under my thigh,

3 That I may make thee swear by the Lord the God of heaven and
earth, that thou take not a wife for my son, of the daughters of the
Chanaanites, among whom I dwell:

4 But that thou go to my own country and kindred, and take a wife
from thence for my son Isaac.

5 The servant answered: If the woman will not come with me into
this land, must I bring thy son back again to the place, from whence
thou camest out?

6 And Abraham said: Beware thou never bring my son back again thither.

7 The Lord God of heaven, who took me out of my father's house, and
out of my native country, who spoke to me, and swore to me, saying: To
thy seed will I give this land: he will send his angel before thee, and
thou shalt take from thence a wife for my son.

8 But if the woman will not follow thee, thou shalt not be bound by
the oath; only bring not my son back thither again.

9 The servant therefore put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his
lord, and swore to him upon this word.

10 And he took ten camels of his master's herd, and departed,
carrying something of all his goods with him, and he set forth and went
on to Mesopotamia to the city of Nachor.

11 And when he had made the camels lie down without the town near a
well of water in Evening, at the time when women were wont to come out
to draw water, he said:

13 Behold I stand nigh the spring of water, and the daughters of
the inhabitants of this city will come out to draw water.

14 Now, therefore, the maid to whom I shall say: Let down thy
pitcher that I may drink: and she shall answer, Drink, and I will give
thy camels drink also: let it be the same whom thou hast provided for
thy servant Isaac: and by this I shall understand, that thou hast shown
kindness to my master.

15 he had not yet ended these words within himself, and behold
Rebecca came out, the daughter of Bathuel, son of Melcha, wife to Nachor
the brother of Abraham, having a pitcher on her shoulder:

16 An exceedingly comely maid, and a most beautiful virgin, and not
known to man: and she went down to the spring, and filled her pitcher
and was coming back.

17 And the servant ran to meet her, and said: Give me a little
water to drink of thy pitcher.

18 And she answered: Drink, my lord. And quickly she let down the
pitcher upon her arm, and gave him drink.

19 And when he had drunk, she said: I will draw water for thy
camels also, till they all drink.

20 And pouring out the pitcher into the troughs, she ran back to
the well to draw water: and having drawn she gave to all the camels.

21 But he musing beheld her with silence, desirous to know whether
the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.

22 And after that the camels had drunk, the man took out golden
earrings, weighing two sicles: and as many bracelets of ten sicles weight.

23 And he said to her: Whose daughter art thou? tell me: is there
any place in thy father's house to lodge?

24 And she answered: I am the daughter of Bathuel, the son of
Melcha, whom she bore to Nachor.

25 And she said moreover to him: We have good store of both straw
and hay, and a large place to lodge in.

26 The man bowed himself down, and adored the Lord,

27 Saying: Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath
not taken away his mercy and truth from my master, and hath brought me
the straight way into the house of my master's brother.

28 Then the maid ran, and told in her mother's house, all that she
had heard.

29 And Rebecca had a brother named Laban, who went out in haste to
the man, to the well.

30 And when he had seen the earrings and bracelets in his sister's
hands, and had heard all that she related, saying: Thus and thus the man
spoke to me: he came to the man who stood by the camels, and near to the
spring of water,

31 And said to him: Come in, thou blessed of the Lord: why standest
thou without? I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels.

32 And he brought him in into his lodging: and he unharnessed the
camels and gave straw and hay, and water to wash his feet, and the feet
of the men that were come with him.

33 And bread was set before him. But he said: I will not eat, till
I tell my message. He answered him: Speak.

34 And he said: I am the servant of Abraham:

35 And the Lord hath blessed my master wonderfully, and he is
become great: and he hath given him sheep and oxen, silver and gold,
menservants and womenservants, camels and asses.

36 And Sara my master's wife hath borne my master a son in her old
age, and he hath given him all that he had.

37 And my master made me swear, saying: Thou shalt not take a wife
for my son of the Chanaanites, in whose land I dwell:

38 But thou shalt go to my father's house, and shalt take a wife of
my own kindred for my son:

39 But I answered my master: What if the woman will not come with me?

40 The Lord, said he, in whose sight I walk, will send his angel
with thee, and will direct thy way: and thou shalt take a wife for my
son of my own kindred, and of my father's house.

41 But thou shalt be clear from my curse, when thou shalt come to
my kindred, if they will not give thee one.

42 And I came today to the well of water, and said: O Lord God of
my master Abraham, if thou hast prospered my way, wherein I now walk,

43 Behold I stand by the well of water, and the virgin, that shall
come out to draw water, who shall hear me say: Give me a little water to
drink of thy pitcher:

44 And shall say to me: Both drink thou, and I will also draw for
thy camels: let the same be the woman, whom the Lord hath prepared for
my master's son.

45 And whilst I pondered these things secretly with myself, Rebecca
appeared coming with a pitcher, which she carried on her shoulder: and
she went down to the well and drew water. And I said to her: Give me a
little to drink.

46 And she speedily let down the pitcher from her shoulder, and
said to me: Both drink thou, and to thy camels I will give drink. I
drank, and she watered the camels.

47 And I asked her, and said: Whose daughter art thou? And she
answered: I am the daughter of Bathuel, the son of Nachor, whom Melcha
bore to him. So I put earrings on her to adorn her face, and I put
bracelets on her hands.

48 And falling down I adored the Lord, blessing the Lord God of my
master Abraham, who hath brought me the straight way to take the
daughter of my master's brother for his son.

49 Wherefore if you do according to mercy and truth with my master,
tell me: but if it please you otherwise, tell me that also, that I may
go to the right hand, or to the left.

50 And Laban and Bathuel answered: The word hath proceeded from the
Lord, we cannot speak any other thing to thee but his pleasure.

51 Behold Rebecca is before thee, take her and go thy way, and let
her be the wife of thy master's son, as the Lord hath spoken.

52 Which when Abraham's servant heard, falling down to the ground
he adored the Lord.

53 And bringing forth vessels of silver and gold, and garments, he
gave them to Rebecca for a present. He offered gifts also to her
brothers, and to her mother.

54 And a banquet was made, and they ate and drank together, and
lodged there. And in the morning, the servant arose, and said: Let me
depart, that I may go to my master.

55 And her brother and mother answered: Let the maid stay at least
ten days with us, and afterwards she shall depart.

56 Stay me not, said he, because the Lord hath prospered my way:
send me away, that I may go to my master.

57 And they said: Let us call the maid, and ask her will.

58 And they called her, and when she was come, they asked: Wilt
thou go with this man? She said: I will go.

59 So they sent her away, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and
his company,

60 Wishing prosperity to their sister, and saying: Thou art our
sister, mayst thou increase to thousands of thousands, and may thy seed
possess the gates of their enemies.

61 So Rebecca and her maids, being set upon camels, followed the
man: who with speed returned to his master.

62 At the same time Isaac was walking along the way to the well
which is called Of the living and the seeing: for he dwelt in the south
country.

63 And he was gone forth to meditate in the field, the day being
now well spent: and when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw camels coming
afar off.

64 Rebecca also, when she saw Isaac, lighted off the camel,

65 And said to the servant: Who is that man who cometh towards us
along the field? And he said to her: That man is my master. But she
quickly took her cloak, and covered herself.

66 And the servant told Isaac all that he had done.

67 Who brought her into the tent of Sara his mother, and took her
to wife: and he loved her so much, that it moderated the sorrow which
was occasioned by his mother's death.

Chapter 25

Abraham's children by Cetura: his death and that of Ismael. Isaac hath
Esau and Jacob twins. Esau selleth his first birthright to Jacob.

1 And Abraham married another wife, named Cetura:

2 Who bore to him Zamran, and Jecsan, and Madan, and Madian, and
Jesboc, and Sue.

3 Jecsan also begot Saba and Dadan. The children of Dadan were
Assurim, and Latusim, and Loomin.

4 But of Madian was born Epha, and Opher, and Henoch, and Abida,
and Eldaa: all these were the children of Cetura.

5 And Abraham gave all his possessions to Isaac.

6 And to the children of the concubines he gave gifts, and
separated them from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, to the east country.

7 And the days of Abraham's life were a hundred and seventy-five years.

8 And decaying he died in a good old age, and having lived a long
time, and being full of days: and was gathered to his people.

9 And Isaac and Ismael his sons buried him in the double cave,
which was situated in the field of Ephron the son of Seor the Hethite,
over against Mambre;

10 Which he had bought of the children of Heth: there was he
buried, and Sara his wife.

11 And after his death, God blessed Isaac his son, who dwelt by the
well named Of the living and seeing.

12 These are the generations of Ismael the son of Abraham, whom
Agar the Egyptian, Sara's servant, bore unto him:

13 And these are the names of his children according to their
calling and generations. The firstborn of Ismael was Nabajoth, then
Cedar, and Adbeel, and Mabsam.

14 And Masma, and Duma, and Massa,

15 Hadar, and Thema, and Jethur, and Naphis, and Cedma.

16 These are the sons of Ismael: and these are their names by their
castles and towns, twelve princes of their tribes.

17 And the years of Ismael's life were a hundred and thirty-seven,
and decaying he died, and was gathered unto his people.

18 And he dwelt from Hevila as far as Sur, which looketh towards
Egypt, to them that go towards the Assyrians. He died in the presence of
all his brethren.

19 These also are the generations of Isaac the son of Abraham:
Abraham begot Isaac:

20 Who when he was forty years old, took to wife Rebecca the
daughter of Bathuel the Syrian of Mesopotamia, sister to Laban.

21 And Isaac besought the Lord for his wife, because she was
barren; and he heard him, and made Rebecca to conceive.

22 But the children struggled in her womb: and she said: If it were
to be so with me, what need was there to conceive? And she went to
consult the Lord.

23 And he answering said: Two nations are in thy womb, and two
peoples shall be divided out of thy womb, and one people shall overcome
the other, and the elder shall serve the younger.

24 And when her time was come to be delivered, behold twins were
found in her womb.

25 He that came forth first was red, and hairy like a skin: and his
name was called Esau. Immediately the other coming forth, held his
brother's foot in his hand, and therefore he was called Jacob.

26 Isaac was threescore years old when the children were born unto him.

27 And when they were grown up, Esau became a skillful hunter, and
a husbandman, but Jacob a plain man dwelt in tents.

28 Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his hunting: and Rebecca
loved Jacob.

29 And Jacob boiled Pottage: to whom Esau, coming faint out of the
field,

30 Said: Give me of this red pottage, for I am exceeding faint. For
which reason his name was called Edom.

31 And Jacob said to him: Sell me thy first birthright.

32 He answered: Lo I die, what will the first birthright avail me.

33 Jacob said: Swear therefore to me. Esau swore to him, and sold
his first birthright.

34 And so taking bread and the pottage of lentils, he ate, and
drank, and went his way; making little account of having sold his first
birthright.

Chapter 26

Isaac sojourneth in Gerara, where God reneweth to him the promise made to
Abraham. King Abimelech maketh league with him.

1 And when a famine came in the land, after that barrenness which
had happened in the days of Abraham, Isaac went to Abimelech king of
the Palestines to Gerara.

2 And the Lord appeared to him and said: Go not down into Egypt, but
stay in the land that I shall tell thee.

3 And sojourn in it, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee:
for to thee and to thy seed I will give all these countries, to fulfill
the oath which I swore to Abraham thy father.

4 And I will multiply thy seed like the stars of heaven: and I will
give to thy posterity all these countries: and in thy seed shall all
the nations of the earth be blessed.

7 And when he was asked by the men of that place, concerning his wife,
he answered: She is my sister; for he was afraid to confess that she was
his wife, thinking lest perhaps they would like him because of her beauty.

8 And when very many days were passed, and he abode there, Abimelech
king of the Palestines looking out through a window, saw him playing with
Rebecca his wife.

9 And calling for him, he said: It is evident she is thy wife: why
didst thou feign her to be thy sister? He answered: I feared lest I
should die for her sake.

10 And Abimelech said: Why hadst thou deceived us? Some man of the
people might have lain with thy wife, and thou hadst brought upon us
a great sin. And he commanded all the people, saying:

11 He that shall touch this man's wife, shall surely be put to death.

12 And Isaac sowed in that land, and he found that same year a
hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.

13 And the man was enriched, and he went on prospering and increasing,
till he became exceeding great:

14 And he had possessions of sheep and of herds, and a very great
family. Wherefore the Palestines envying him,

15 Stopped up at that time all the wells, that the servants of his
father Abraham had digged, filling them up with earth:

16 Insomuch that Abimelech himself said to Isaac: Depart from us, for
thou art become much mightier than we.

17 So he departed and came to the torrent of Gerara, to dwell there:

18 And he digged again other wells, which the servants of his father
Abraham had digged, and which, after his death, the Palestines had of
old stopped up: and he called them by the same names by which his father
before had called them.

19 And they digged in the torrent, and found living water.

20 But there also the herdsmen of Gerara strove against the herdsmen of
Isaac, saying: It is our water. Wherefore he called the name of the well,
on occasion of that which had happened, Calumny.

21 And they digged also another; and for that they quarreled likewise,
and he called the name of it, Enmity.

22 Going forward from thence, he digged another well, for which they
contended not: therefore he called the name thereof, Latitude, saying:
Now hath the Lord given us room, and made us to increase upon the earth.

23 And he went up from that place to Bersabee,

24 Where the Lord appeared to him that same might, saying: I am the God
of Abraham thy father; do not fear, for I am with thee: I will bless thee,
and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.

25 And he built there an altar: and called upon the name of the Lord, and
pitched his tent: and commanded his servants to dig a well.

26 To which place when Abimelech, and Ochozath his friend, and Phicol
chief captain of his soldiers came from Gerara,

27 Isaac said to them: Why are ye come to me, a man whom you hate,
and have thrust out from you?

28 And they answered: We saw that the Lord is with thee, and therefore
we said: Let there be an oath between us, and let us make a covenant,

29 That thou do us no harm, as we on our part have touched nothing
of thine, nor have done any thing to hurt thee: but with peace have sent
thee away increased with the blessing of the Lord.

30 And he made them a feast, and after they had eaten and drunk:

31 Arising in the morning, they swore one to another: and Isaac sent
them away peaceably to their own home.

32 And behold the same day the servants of Isaac came, telling him of
a well which they had digged, and saying: We have found water.

33 Whereupon he called it Abundance: and the name of the city was
called Bersabee, even to this day.

34 And Esau being forty years old, married wives, Judith the daughter
of Beeri the Hethite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon of the same place.

35 And they both offended the mind of Isaac and Rebecca.

Chapter 27

Jacob, by his mother's counsel, obtaineth his father's blessing instead
of Esau. And by her is advised to fly to his uncle Laban.

1 Now Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, and he could not see: and
he called Esau, his elder son, and said to him: My son? And he answered:
Here I am.

2 And his father said to him: Thou seest that I am old, and know not
the day of my death.

3 Take thy arms, thy quiver, and bow, and go abroad: and when thou
hast taken some thing by hunting,

4 Make me savoury meat thereof, as thou knowest I like, and bring it,
that I may eat: and my soul may bless thee before I die.

5 And when Rebecca had heard this, and he was gone into the field to
fulfill his father's commandment,

6 She said to her son Jacob: I heard thy father talking with Esau thy
brother, and saying to him:

7 Bring me of thy hunting, and make me meats that I may eat, and bless
thee in the sight of the Lord, before I die.

8 Now, therefore, my son, follow my counsel:

9 And go thy way to the flock, bring me two kids of the best, that I
may make of them meat for thy father, such as he gladly eateth:

10 Which when thou hast brought in, and he hath eaten, he may bless
thee before he die.

11 And he answered her: Thou knowest that Esau my brother is a
hairy man, and I am smooth.

12 If my father shall feel me, and perceive it, I fear lest he will
think I would have mocked him, and I shall bring upon me a curse instead
of a blessing.

13 And his mother said to him: Upon me be this curse, my son: only
hear thou my voice, and go, fetch me the things which I have said.

14 He went, and brought, and gave them to his mother. She dressed
meats, such as she knew his father liked.

15 And she put on him very good garments of Esau, which she had at
home with her:

16 And the little skins of the kids she put about his hands, and
covered the bare of his neck.

17 And she gave him the savoury meat, and delivered him bread that she
had baked.

18 Which when he had carried in, he said: My father? But he answered:
I hear. Who art thou, my son?

19 And Jacob said: I am Esau thy firstborn: I have done as thou didst
command me: arise, sit, and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.

20 And Isaac said to his son: How couldst thou find it so quickly, my
son?

21 And Isaac said: Come hither, that I may feel thee, my son, and may
prove whether thou be my son Esau, or not.

22 He came near to his father, and when he had felt him, Isaac said:
The voice indeed is the voice of Jacob; but the hands are the hands of
Esau.

23 He said: Art thou my son Esau? He answered: I am.

25 Then he said: Bring me the meats of thy hunting, my son, that my
soul may bless thee. And when they were brought, and he had eaten, he
offered him wine also, which after he had drunk,

26 He said to him: Come near me, and give me a kiss, my son.

27 He came near, and kissed him. And immediately as he smelled the
fragrant smell of his garments, blessing him, he said: Behold the smell
of my son is as the smell of a plentiful field, which Lord hath blessed.

28 God give thee the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth,
abundance of corn and wine.

29 And let peoples serve thee, and tribes worship thee: be thou lord
of thy brethren, and let they mother's children bow down before thee.
Cursed be he that curseth thee: and let him that blesseth thee be filled
with blessings.

30 Isaac had scarce ended his words, when Jacob being now gone out
abroad, Esau came,

31 And brought in to his father meats made of what he had taken in
hunting, saying: Arise, my father, and eat of thy son's venison; that
thy soul may bless me.

32 And Isaac said to him: Why! who art thou? He answered: I am thy
firstborn son Esau.

33 Isaac was struck with fear, and astonished exceedingly: and
wondering beyond what can be believed, said Who is he then the even
now brought me venison that he had taken, and I ate of all before
thou camest? and I have blessed him, and he shall be blessed.

34 Esau having heard his father's words, roared out with a great cry:
and being in a great consternation, said: Bless me also, my father.

35 And he said: Thy brother came deceitfully and got thy blessing.

36 But he said again: Rightly is his name called Jacob; for he hath
supplanted me lo this second time: my first birthright he took away
before, and now this second time he hath stolen away my blessing. And
again he said to his father: Hast thou not reserved me also a blessing?

37 Isaac answered: I have appointed him thy lord, and have made all
his brethren his servants: I have established him with corn and wine, and
after this, what shall I do more for thee, my son?

38 And Esac said to him: Hast thou only one blessing, father? I beseech
thee bless me also. And when he wept with a loud cry,

39 Isaac being moved, said to him: In the fat of the earth, and in the
dew of heaven from above,

40 Shall thy blessing be. Thou shalt live by the sword and shalt serve
thy brother: and the time shall come, when thou shalt shake off and loose
his yoke from thy neck.

41 Esau therefore always hated Jacob for the blessing wherewith his
father had blessed him: and he said in his heart: The days will come of
the mourning of my father, and I will kill my brother Jacob.

42 These things were told to Rebecca: and she sent and called Jacob
her son, and said to him: Behold Esau thy brother threateneth to kill thee.

44 And thou shalt dwell with him a few days, till wrath of thy
brother be assuaged,

45 And his indignation cease, and he forget the things thou hast done
to him: afterwards I will send, and bring thee from thence hither. Why
shall I be deprived of both my sons in one day?

46 And Rebecca said to Isaac: I am weary of my life because of the
daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the stock of this land, I
choose not to live.

Chapter 28

Jacob's journey to Mesopotamia: his vision and vow.

1 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, saying:
Take not a wife of the stock of Chanaan:

2 But go, and take a journey to Mesopotamia of Syria, to the house
of Bathuel thy mother's father, and take thee a wife thence of the
daughters of Laban thy uncle.

3 And God almighty bless thee, and make thee to increase, and multiply
thee: that thou mayst be a multitude of people.

4 And give the blessings of Abrabam to thee, and to thy seed after
thee: that thou mayst possess the land of thy sojournment, which he
promised to thy grandfather.

5 And when Isaac had sent him away, he took his journey and went to
Mesopotamia of Syria to Laban the son of Bathuel the Syrian, brother to
Rebecca his mother.

6 And Esau seeing that his father had blessed Jacob, and had sent him
into Mesopotamia of Syria, to marry a wife thence; and that after the
blessing he had charged him, saying: Thou shalt not take a wife of the
daughters of Chanaan:

7 And that Jacob obeying his parents was gone into Syria:

8 Experiencing also that his father was not well pleased with the
daughters of Chanaan:

9 He went to Ismael, and took to wife, besides them he had before,
Maheleth the daughter of Ismael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nabajoth.

10 But Jacob being departed from Bersabee, went on to Haran.

11 And when he was come to a certain place, and would rest in it
after sunset, he took of the stones that lay there, and putting
under his head, slept in the same place.

12 And he saw in his sleep a ladder standing upon the earth, and
the top thereof touching heaven: the angels also of God ascending
and descending by it;

13 And the Lord leaning upon the ladder, saying to him: I am the Lord
God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac; the land, wherein
thou sleepest, I will give to thee and to thy seed.

14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth: thou shalt spread
abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south:
and IN THEE and thy seed all the tribes of the earth SHALL BE BLESSED.

15 And I will be thy keeper whithersoever thou goest, and will bring
thee back into this land: neither will I leave thee, till I shall have
accomplished all that I have said.

16 And when Jacob awaked out of sleep, he said: Indeed the Lord is in
this place, and I knew it not.

17 And trembling he said: How terrible is this place! this is no other
but the house of God, and the gate of heaven.

18 And Jacob, arising in the morning, took the stone, which he had
laid under his head, and set it up for a title, pouring oil upon the
top of it.

19 And he called the name of the city Bethel, which before was called
Luza.

20 And he made a vow, saying: If God shall be with me, and shall keep
me in the way by which I walk, and shall give me bread to eat, and raiment
to put on,

21 And I shall return prosperously to my father's house: the Lord shall
be my God:

22 And this stone, which I have set up for a title, shall called the
house of God: and of all things that thou shalt give to me, I will offer
tithes to thee.

Chapter 29

Jacob serveth Laban for seven years for Rachel: but is deceived with Lia:
he afterwards marrieth Rachel. Lia bears him four sons.

1 Then Jacob went on in his journey, and came into the east country.

2 And he saw a well in the field, and three flocks of sheep lying by
it: for the beasts were watered out of it, and the mouth thereof was
closed with a great stone.

3 And the custom was, when all the sheep were gathered together to
roll away the stone, and after the sheep were watered, to put it on the
mouth of the well again.

4 And he said to the shepherds: Brethren, whence are you? They
answered: Of Haran.

5 And he asked them, saying: Know you Laban the son of Nachor?
They said: We know him.

6 He said: Is he in health? He is in health, say they: and behold
Rachel his daughter cometh with his flock.

7 And Jacob said: There is yet much day remaining, neither is it time
to bring the flocks into the folds again: first give the sheep drink, and
so lead them back to feed.

8 They answered: We cannot, till all the cattle be gathered together,
and we remove the stone from the well's mouth, that we may water the
flocks.

9 They were yet speaking, and behold Rachel came with her father's
sheep: for she fed the flock.

10 And when Jacob saw her, and knew her to be his cousin-german, and
that they were the sheep of Laban, his uncle: he removed the stone
wherewith the well was closed.

11 And having watered the flock, he kissed her: and lifting up his
voice, wept.

12 And he told her that he was her father's brother, and the son of
Rebecca: but she went in haste and told her father.

13 Who, when he heard that Jacob his sister's son was come, ran forth
to meet him; and embracing him, and heartily kissing him, brought him into
his house. And when he had heard the causes of his journey,

14 He answered: Thou art my bone and my flesh. And after the days of one
month were expired,

16 Now he had two daughters, the name of the elder was Lia: and the
younger was called Richel.

17 But Lia was blear eyed: Rachel was well favoured, and of a beautiful
countenance.

18 And Jacob being in love with her, said: I will serve thee seven years
for Rachel thy younger daughter.

19 Lahan answered: It is better that I give her thee than to another man;
stay with me.

20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel: and they seemed but a few
days, because of the greatness of his love.

21 And he said to Laban: Give me my wife; for now the time is fulfilled,
that I may go in unto her.

22 And he, having invited a great number of his friends to the feast,
made the marriage.

23 And at night he brought in Lia his daughter to him,

24 Giving his daughter a handmaid, named Zalpha. Now when Jacob had
gone in to her according to custom when morning was come he saw it was
Lia:

25 And he said to his father in law: What is it that thou didst mean
to do? did not I serve thee for Rachel? why hast thou deceived me?

26 Laban answered: It is not the custom in this place, to give the
younger in marriage first.

27 Make up the week of days of this match: and I will give thee her
also, for the service that thou shalt render me other seven years.

28 He yielded to his pleasure: and after the week was past, he
married Rachel:

29 To whom her father gave Bala for her servant.

30 And having at length obtained the marriage he wished for, he
preferred the love of the latter before the former, and served with him
other seven years.

31 And the Lord seeing that he despised Lia, opened her womb, but her
sister remained barren.

32 And she conceived and bore a son, and called his name Ruben, saying:
The Lord saw my affliction: now my husband will love me.

33 And again she conceived and bore a son, and said: Because the Lord
heard that I was despised, he hath given this also to me: and she called
his name Simeon.

34 And she conceived the third time, and bore another son: and said: Now
also my husband will be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons:
and therefore she called his name Levi.

35 The fourth time she conceived and bore a son, and said: now will I
praise the Lord: and for this she called him Juda. And she left bearing.

Chapter 30

Rachel, being barren, delivereth her handmaid to Jacob; she beareth two
sons. Lia ceasing to bear, giveth also her handmaid, and she beareth two more.
Then Lia beareth other two sons and one daughter. Rachel beareth Joseph. Jacob,
desirous to return home, is hired to stay for a certain part of the flock's
increase, whereby he becometh exceeding rich.

1 And Rachel, seeing herself without children, envied her sister, and
said to her husband: Give me children, otherwise I shall die.

2 And Jacob being angry with her, answered: Am I as God, who hath
deprived thee of the fruit of thy womb?

3 But she said: I have here my servant Bala: go in unto her, that she
may bear upon my knees, and I may have children by her.

4 And she gave him Bala in marriage: who,

5 When her husband had gone in unto her, conceived and bore a son.

6 And Rachel said: The Lord hath judged for me, and hath heard my
voice, giving me a son, and therefore she called his name Dan.

7 And again Bala conceived and bore another,

8 For whom Rachel said: God hath compared me with my sister, and
I have prevailed: and she called him Nephtali.

9 Lia, perceiving that she had left off bearing, gave Zelpha her
handmaid to her husband.

10 And when she had conceived and brought forth a son,

11 She said: Happily. And therefore called his name Gad.

12 Zelpha also bore another.

13 And Lia said: This is for my happiness: for women will call me
blessed. Therefore she called him Aser.

14 And Ruben, going out in the time of the wheat harvest into the field,
found mandrakes: which he brought to his mother Lia. And Rachel said: Give
me part of thy son's mandrakes.

15 She answered: Dost thou think it a small matter, that thou hast taken
my husband from me, unless thou take also my son's mandrakes? Rachel said:
He shall sleep with thee this night, for thy son's mandrakes.

16 And when Jacob returned at even from the field, Lia went out to
meet him, and said: Thou shalt come in unto me, because I have hired
thee for my son's mandrakes. And he slept with her that night.

17 And God heard her prayers: and she conceived and bore the fifth son,

18 And said: God hath given me a reward, because I gave my handmaid to
my husband. And she called his name Issachar.

19 And Lia conceived again, and bore the sixth son,

20 And said: God hath endowed me with a good dowry: this turn also my
husband will be with me, because I have borne him six sons: and therefore
she called his name Zabulon.

21 After whom she bore a daughter, named Diana.

22 The Lord also remembering Rachel, heard her, and opened her womb.

23 And she conceived, and bore a son, saying: God hath taken my reproach.

24 And she called his name Joseph, saying: The Lord give me also
another son.

25 And when Joseph was born, Jacob said to his father in law: Send me
away that I may return into my country, and to my land.

26 Give me my wives, and my children, for whom I have served thee, that
I may depart: thou knowest the service that I have rendered thee.

27 Laban said to him: Let me find favour in thy sight: I have learned by
experience, that God hath blessed me for thy sake.

28 Appoint thy wages which I shall give thee.

29 But he answered: Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how great
thy possession hath been in my hands.

30 Thou hadst but little before I came to thee, and now thou art become
rich: and the Lord hath blessed thee at my coming. It is reasonable
therefore that I should now provide also for my own house.

31 And Laban said: What shall I give thee? But he said: I require
nothing: but if thou wilt do what I demand, I will feed, and keep thy
sheep again.

32 Go round through all thy flocks, and separate all the sheep of divers
colours, and speckled: and all that is brown and spotted, and of divers
colours, as well among the sheep, as among the goats, shall be my wages.

33 And my justice shall answer for me to morrow before thee when the
time of the bargain shall come: and all that is not of divers colours,
and spotted, and brown, as well among the sheep as among the goats, shall
accuse me of theft.

34 And Laban said: I like well what thou demandest.

35 And he separated the name day the she goats, and the sheep, and the
he goats, and the rams of divers colours, and spotted: and all the flock
of one colour, that is, of white and black fleece, he delivered into the
hands of his sons.

36 And he set the space of three days' journey betwixt himself and
his son in law, who fed the rest of his flock.

37 And Jacob took green robs of poplar, and of almond, and of place
trees, and pilled them in part: so when the bark was taken off, in the
parts that were pilled, there appeared whiteness: but the parts that
were whole remained green: and by this means the colour was divers.

38 And he put them in the troughs, where the water was poured out:
that when the flocks should come to drink, they might have the rods
before their eyes, and in the sight of them might conceive.

39 And it came to pass that in the very heat of coition, the sheep
beheld the rods, and brought forth spotted, and of divers colours,
and speckled.

40 And Jacob separated the flock, and put the rods in the troughs
before the eyes of the rams: and all the white and the black were
Laban's: and the rest were Jacob's, when the flocks were separated
one from the other.

41 So when the ewes went first to ram, Jacob put the rods in the
roughs of water before the eyes of the rams, and of the ewes, that
they might conceive while they were looking upon them:

42 But when the latter coming was, and the last conceiving, he did
not put them. And those that were late ward, become Laban's: and they
of the first time, Jacob's.

43 And the man was enriched exceedingly, and he had many flocks,
maid servants and men servants, camels and asses.

Chapter 31

Jacob's departure: he is pursued and overtaken by Laban. They make a
covenant.

1 But after that he heard the words of the sons of Laban, saying:
Jacob hath taken away all that was our father's, and being enriched by his
substance is become great:

2 And perceiving also that Laban's countenance was not towards him as
yesterday and the other day,

3 Especially the Lord saying to him: Return into the land of thy
fathers, and to thy kindred, and I will be with thee.

4 He sent, and called Rachel and Lia into the field, where he fed the
flocks,

5 And said to them: I see your father's countenance is not towards me
as yesterday and the other day: but the God of my father hath been with
me.

6 And you know that I have served your father to the utmost of my
power.

8 If at any time he said: The speckled shall be thy wages: all the
sheep brought forth speckled: but when he said on the contrary: Thou shalt
take all the white ones for thy wages: all the flocks brought forth white
ones.

9 And God hath taken your father's substance, and given it to me.

10 For after that time came of the ewes conceiving, I lifted up my
eyes, and saw in my sleep that the males which leaped upon the females
were of diverse colors, and spotted, and speckled.

11 And the angel of God said to me in my sleep: Jacob? And I
answered: Here I am.

12 And he said: Lift up thy eyes, and see that all the males leaping
upon the females, are of divers colors, spotted, and speckled. For I have
seen all that Laban hath done to thee.

13 I am the God of Bethel, where thou didst anoint the stone, and
make a vow to me. Now therefore arise, and go out of this land, and return
into thy native country.

14 And Rachel and Lia answered: Have we anything left among the goods
and inheritance of our father's house?

15 Hath he not counted us as strangers and sold us, and eaten up the
price of us?

16 But God hath taken our father's riches, and delivered them to us,
and to our children: wherefore do all that God hath commanded thee.

17 Then Jacob rose up, and having set his children and wives upon
camels, went his way.

18 And he took all his substance, and flocks, and whatsoever he had
gotten in Mesopotamia, and went forward to Isaac his father to the land of
Chanaan.

19 At that time Laban was gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole
away her father's idols.

20 And Jacob would not confess to his father in law that he was
flying away.

21 And when he was gone, together with all that belonged to him, and
having passed the river, was going on towards mount Galaad,

22 It was told Laban on the third day that Jacob fled.

23 And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven
days; and overtook him in the mount of Galaad.

24 And he saw in a dream God saying to him: Take heed thou speak not
any thing harshly against Jacob.

25 Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountain: and when he with
his brethren had overtaken him, he pitched his tent in the same mount of
Galaad.

26 And he said to Jacob: Why hast thou done thus, to carry away,
without my knowledge, my daughters, as captives taken with the sword.

27 Why wouldst thou run away privately and not acquaint me, that I
might have brought thee on the way with joy, and with songs, and with
timbrels, and with harps?

31 Jacob answered: That I departed unknown to thee, it was for fear
lest thou wouldst take away thy daughters by force.

32 But whereas thou chargest me with theft: with whomsoever thou
shalt find thy gods, let him be slain before our brethren. Search, and if
thou find any of thy things with me, take them away. Now when he said
this, he knew not that Rachel had stolen the idols.

33 So Laban went into the tent of Jacob, and of Lia, and of both the
handmaids, and found them not. And when he was entered into Rachel's
tent,

34 She in haste hid the idols under the camel's furniture, and sat
upon them: and when he had searched all the tent, and found nothing,

35 She said: Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise up before
thee, because it has now happened to me, according to the custom of women,
So his careful search was in vain.

36 And jacob being angry, said in a chiding manner: For what fault of
mine, and for what offense on my part hast thou so hotly pursued me,

37 And searched all my household stuff? What hast thou found of all
the substance of thy house? lay it here before my brethren, and thy
brethren, and let them judge between me and thee.

38 Have I therefore been with thee twenty years? thy ewes and goats
were not barren, the rams of thy flocks I did not eat:

39 Neither did I show thee that which the beast had torn, I made good
all the damage: whatsoever was lost by theft, thou didst exact it of me:

40 Day and night was I parched with heat, and with frost, and sleep
departed from my eyes.

41 And in this manner have I served thee in thy house twenty years,
fourteen for thy daughters, and six for thy flocks: thou hast changed also
my wages ten times.

42 Unless the God of my father Abraham, and the fear of Isaac had
stood by me, peradventure now thou hadst sent me away naked: God beheld my
affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesterday.

43 Laban answered him: The daughters are mine and the children, and
thy flocks, and all things that thou seest are mine: what can I do to my
children, and grandchildren?

44 Come therefore, let us enter into a league: that it may be for a
testimony between me and thee.

45 And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a title:

46 And he said to his brethren: Bring hither stones. And they
gathering stones together, made a heap, and they ate upon it.

47 And Laban called it The witness heap: and Jacob, The hillock of
testimony: each of them according to the propriety of his language.

48 And Laban said: This heap shall be a witness between me and thee
this day, and therefore the name thereof was called Galaad, that is, The
witness heap.

49 The Lord behold and judge between us when we shall be gone one
from the other.

50 If thou afflict my daughters, and if thou bring in other wives
over them: none is witness of our speech but God, who is present and
beholdeth.

51 And he said again to Jacob: Behold, this heap, and the stone which
I have set up between me and thee,

52 Shall be a witness: this heap, I say, and the stone, be they for a
testimony, if either I shall pass beyond it going towards thee, or thou
shalt pass beyond it, thinking harm to me.

53 The God of Abraham, and the God of Nachor, the God of their
father, judge between us. And jacob swore by the fear of his father
Isaac.

54 And after he had offered sacrifices in the mountain, he called his
brethren to eat bread. And when they had eaten, they lodged there:

55 But laban arose in the night, and kissed his sons, and daughters,
and blessed them: and returned to his place.

Chapter 32

Jacob's vision of angels; his message and presents to Esau; his wrestling
with an angel.

1 Jacob also went on the journey he had begun: and the angels of God
met him.

2 And when he saw them, he said: These are the camps of God, and he
called the name of that place Mahanaim, that is, Camps.

3 And he sent messengers before him to Esau his brother to the land
of Seir to the country of Edom:

4 And he commanded them, saying: Thus shall ye speak to my lord Esau:
Thus saith thy brother Jacob: I have sojourned with Laban, and have been
with him until this day.

5 I have oxen, and asses, and sheep, and menservants, and
womenservants: and now I send a message to my lord, that I may find favor
in thy sight.

6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying: We came to Esau thy
brother, and behold he cometh with speed to meet thee with four hundred
men.

7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid; and in his fear divided the people
that was with him, and the flocks, and the sheep, and the oxen, and the
camels, into two companies,

8 Saying: If Esau come to one company and destroy it, the other
company that is left shall escape.

9 And Jacob said: O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father
Isaac, O Lord, who saidst to me: Return to thy land and to the place of
thy birth, and I will do well for thee,

10 I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies, and of thy truth
which thou hast fulfilled to thy servant. With my staff I passed over this
Jordan; and now I return with two companies.

11 Deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am greatly
afraid of him: lest perhaps he come, and kill the mother with the
children.

12 Thou didst say that thou wouldst do well by me, and multiply my
seed like the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for the
multitude.

13 And when he had slept there that night, he set apart, of the
things which he had, presents for his brother Esau.

14 Two hundred she goats, twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and
twenty rams,

15 Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and twenty
bulls, twenty she asses, and ten of their foals.

16 And he sent them by the hands of his servants, every drove by
itself, and he said to his servants: Go before me, and let there be a
space between drove and drove.

17 And he commanded the first, saying: If thou meet my brother Esau,
and he ask thee: Whose art thou? or whither goest thou? or whose are these
before thee?

18 Thou shalt answer: Thy servant Jacob's: he hath sent them as a
present to my lord Esau: and he cometh after us.

19 In like manner he commanded the second and the third, and all that
followed with the droves, saying: Speak ye the same words to Esau, when ye
find him.

20 And ye shall add: thy servant Jacob himself also followeth after
us: for he said: I will appease him with the presents that go before, and
afterwards I will see him, perhaps he will be gracious to me.

21 So the presents went before him, but himself lodged that night in
the camp.

22 And rising early he took his two wives, and his two handmaids,
with his eleven sons, and passed over the ford of Jaboc.

23 And when all things were brought over that belonged to him,

24 He remained alone: and behold a man wrestled with him till
morning.

25 And when he saw that he could not overcome him, he touched the
sinew of his thigh, and forthwith it shrank.

26 And he said to him: Let me go, for it is break of day. He
answered: I will not let thee go except thou bless me.

27 And he said: What is thy name? He answered: Jacob.

28 But he said: Thy name shall not be called Jacob, but Israel: for
if thou hast been strong against God, how much more shalt thou prevail
against men?

29 Jacob asked him, Tell me by what name art thou called? He
answered: Why dost thou ask my name? And he blessed him in the same
place.

30 And Jacob called the name of the place Phanuel, saying: I have
seen God face to face, and my soul has been saved.

31 And immediately the sun rose upon him, after he was past Phanuel;
but he halted on his foot.

32 Therefore the children of Israel, unto this day, eat not the
sinew, that shrank in Jacob's thigh: because he touched the sinew of his
thigh and it shrank.

Chapter 33

Jacob and Esau meet: Jacob goeth to Salem, where he raiseth an altar.

1 And Jacob lifting up his eyes, saw Esau coming, and with him four
hundred men: and he divided the children of Lia, and of Rachel, and of the
two handmaids:

2 And he put both the handmaids and their children foremost: and Lia
and her children in the second place: and Rachel and Joseph last.

3 And he went forward and bowed down with his face to the ground
seven times until his brother came near.

4 Then Esau ran to meet his brother, and embraced him: and clasping
him fast about the neck, and kissing him, wept.

5 And lifting up his eyes, he saw the women and their children, and
said: What mean these? And do they belong to thee? He answered: They are
the children which God hath given to me thy servant.

6 Then the handmaids and their children came near, and bowed
themselves.

7 Lia also with her children came near, and bowed down in like
manner, and last of all Joseph and Rachel bowed down.

8 And Esau said: What are the droves that I met? He answered: That I
might find favor before my lord.

9 But he said: I have plenty, my brother, keep what is thine for
thyself.

10 And Jacob said: Do not so I beseech thee, but if I have found
favor in thy eyes, receive a little present at my hands: for I have seen
thy face, as if I should have seen the countenance of God: be gracious to
me,

11 And take the blessing, which I have brought thee, and which God
hath given me, who giveth all things. He took it with much ado at his
brother's earnest pressing him,

12 And said: Let us go on together, and I will accompany thee in thy
journey.

13 And Jacob said: My lord, thou knowest that I have with me tender
children, and sheep, and kine with young: which if I should cause to be
overdriven, in one day all the flocks will die.

14 May it please my lord to go before his servant: and I will follow
softly after him, as I shall see my children to be able, until I come to
my lord in Seir.

15 Esau answered: I beseech thee, that some of the people at least,
who are with me, may stay to accompany thee in the way. And he said: There
is no necessity: I want nothing else but only to find favor, my lord, in
thy sight.

16 So Esau returned, that day, the way that he came, to Seir.

17 And Jacob came to Socoth: where having built a house, and pitched
tents, he called the name of the place Socoth, that is, Tents.

18 And he passed over to Salem, a city of the Sichemites, which is in
the land of Chanaan, after he returned from Mesopotamia of Syria: and he
dwelt by the town:

19 And he bought that part of the field, in which he pitched his
tents, of the children of Hemor, the father of Sichem for a hundred
lambs.

20 And raising an altar there, he invoked upon it the most mighty God
of Israel.

Chapter 34

Dina is ravished, for which the Sichemites are destroyed.

1 And Dina the daughter of Lia went out to see the women of that
country.

2 And when Sichem the son of Hemor the Hevite, the prince of that
land, saw her, he was in love with her: and took her away, and lay with
her, ravishing the virgin.

3 And his soul was fast knit unto her, and whereas she was sad, he
comforted her with sweet words.

4 And going to Hemor his father, he said: Get me this damsel to
wife.

5 But when Jacob had heard this, his sons being absent, and employed
in feeding the cattle, he held his peace till they came back.

6 And when Hemor the father of Sichem was come out to speak to
Jacob,

7 Behold his sons came from the field: and hearing what had passed,
they were exceeding angry, because he had done a foul thing in Israel, and
committed an unlawful act, in ravishing Jacob's daughter,

8 And Hemor spoke to them: The soul of my son Sichem has a longing
for your daughter: give her him to wife:

9 And let us contract marriages one with another: give us your
daughters and take you our daughters,

10 And dwell with us: the land is at your command, till, trade,and
possess it.

11 Sichem also said to her father and to her brethren: Let me find
favor in your sight: and whatsoever you shall appoint I will give.

12 Raise the dowery,, and ask gifts, and I will gladly give what you
shall demand: only give me this damsel to wife.

13 The sons of Jacob answered Sichem and his father deceitfully,
being enraged at the deflowering of their sister:

14 We cannot do what you demand, nor give our sister to one that is
uncircumcised, which with us is unlawful and abominable.

15 But in this way may we be allied with you, if you will be like us,
and all the male sex among you be circumcised:

16 Then will we mutually give and take your daughters, and ours: and
we will dwell with you, and will be one people:

17 But if you will not be circumcised, we will take our daughter and
depart:

18 Their offer pleased Hemor, and Sichem his son:

19 And the young man made no delay, but forthwith fulfilled what was
required, for he loved the damsel exceedingly, and he was the greatest man
in all his father's house.

20 And going into the gate of the city they spoke to the people:

21 These men are peaceable and willing to dwell with us: let them
trade in the land, and till it, which being large and wide wanteth men to
till it: we shall take their daughters for wives, and we will give them
ours.

22 One thing there is for which so great a good is deferred: We must
circumcise every male among us, following the manner of the nation.

23 And their substance, and cattle, and all that they possess, shall
be ours: only in this let us condescend, and by dwelling together, we
shall make one people.

24 And they all agreed, and circumcised all the males.

25 And behold the third day, when the pain of the wound was greatest,
two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, the brothers of Dina, taking
their swords, entered boldly into the city, and slew all the men:

26 And they killed also Hemor and Sichem, and took away their sister
Dina, out of Sichem's house.

27 And when they were gone out, the other sons of Jacob came upon the
slain; and plundered the city in revenge of the rape.

28 And they took their sheep and their herds and their asses, wasting
all they had in their houses and in the fields.

29 and their children and wives they took captive,

30 And when they had boldly perpetrated these things, Jacob said to
Simeon and Levi: You have troubled me, and made me hateful to the
Chanaanites and Pherezites, the inhabitants of this land: we are few: they
will gather themselves together and kill me; and both I, and my house,
shall be destroyed.

31 They answered: Should they abuse our sister as a strumpet?

Chapter 35

Jacob purgeth his family from idols: goeth by God's commandment to
Bethel, and there buildeth an altar. God appearing again to Jacob blesseth him,
and changeth his name to Israel. Rachel dieth in childbirth. Isaac also dieth.

1 In the meantime God said to Jacob: Arise, and go up to Bethel, and
dwell there, and make there an altar to God, who appeared to thee when
thou didst flee from Esau thy brother.

2 And Jacob having called together all his household, said: Cast away
the strange gods that are among you, and be cleansed and change your
garments.

3 Arise, and let us go up to Bethel, that we may make there an altar
to God: who heard me in the day of my affliction, and accompanied me in my
journey.

4 So they gave him all the strange gods they had, and the earrings
which were in their ears: and he buried them under the turpentine tree,
that is behind the city of Sichem.

5 And when they were departed, the terror of God fell upon all the
cities round about, and they durst not pursue after them as they went
away.

6 And Jacob came to Luza, which is in the land of Chanaan, surnamed
Bethel: he and all the people that were with him.

7 And he built there an altar, and called the name of that place, The
house of God: for there God appeared to him when he fled from his
brother.

8 At the same time Debora the nurse of Rebecca died, and was buried
at the foot of Bethel under an oak: and the name of that place was called,
The oak of weeping.

9 And God appeared again to Jacob, after he returned from Mesopotamia
of Syria, and he blessed him,

10 Saying: Thou shalt not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall
be thy name. And he called him Israel.

11 And said to him: I am God Almighty, increase thou and be
multiplied. Nations and peoples of nations shall be from thee, and kings
shall come out of thy loins.

12 And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to
thee, and to thy seed after thee.

13 And he departed from him.

14 But he set up a monument of stone, in the place where God had
spoken to him: pouring drink offerings upon it, and pouring oil thereon:

15 And calling the name of that place Bethel.

16 And going forth from thence, he came in the springtime to the land
which leadeth to Ephrata: wherein when Rachel was in travail,

17 By reason of her hard labor she began to be in danger, and the
midwife said to her: Fear not, for thou shalt have this son also.

18 And when her soul was departing for pain, and death was now at
hand, she called the name of her son Benoni, that is, The son of my pain:
but his father called him Benjamin, that is, The son of the right hand.

19 So Rachel died, and was buried in the highway that leadeth to
Ephrata, that is Bethlehem.

20 And Jacob erected a pillar over her sepulcher: this is the pillar
of Rachel's monument, to this day.

21 Departing thence, he pitched his tent beyond the Flock tower.

22 And when he dwelt in that country, Ruben went, and slept with
Bala, the concubine of his father: which he was not ignorant of. Now the
sons of Jacob were twelve.

23 The sons of Lia: Ruben the firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and
Juda, and Issachar, and Zebulon.

24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

25 The sons of Bala, Rachel's handmaid: Dan and Naphthali.

26 The sons of Zelpha, Lia's handmaid: Gad and Aser: these are the
sons of Jacob, that were born to him in Mesopotamia of Syria.

27 And he came to Isaac his father in Mambre, the city of Arbee, this
is Hebron: Wherein Abraham and Isaac sojourned.

28 And the days of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years.

29 And being spent with age he died, and was gathered to his people,
being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Chapter 36

Esau with his wives and children parteth from Jacob. An account of his
descendants, and of the first kings of Edom.

1 And these are the generations of Esau,
the same is Edom.

2 Esau took wives of the daughters of
Chanaan: Ada the daughter of Elon the
Hethite, and Oolibama the daughter of
Ana, the daughter of Sebeon the Hevite:

3 And Basemath the daughter of Ismael, sister of Nabajoth.

4 And Ada bore Eliphaz: Basemath
bore Rahuel:

5 Oolibama bore Jehus and Ihelon and
Core. These are the sons of Esau, that
were born to him in the land of Chanaan.

6 And Esau took his wives and his sons
and daughters, and every soul of his
house, and his substance, and cattle, and
all that he was able to acquire in the
land of Chanaan: and went into another
country, and departed from his brother
Jacob.

7 For they were exceeding rich, and
could not dwell together: neither was
the land in which they sojourned able
to bear them, for the multitude of their
flocks.

8 And Esau dwelt in mount Seir: he
is Edom.

9 And these are the generations of
Esau the father of Edom in mount Seir,

10 And these the names of his sons:
Eliphaz the son of Ada the wife of
Esau: and Rahnel the son of Basemath
his wife.

11 And Eliphaz had sons: Theman,
Omar, Sepho, and Gatham, and Cenee.

12 And Thamna was the concubine of
Eliphaz the son of Esau: and she bore
him Amalech. These are the sons of
Ada the wife of Esau.

13 And the sons of Rahuel were Nahath
and Zara, Samma and Meza. These were
the sons of Basemath the wife of Esau.

14 And these were the sons of Oolibama, the daughter of Ana, the daughter
of Sebeon, the wife of Esau, whom she
bore to him, Jehus, and Ihelon, and
Core.

15 These were dukes of the sons of
Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn
of Esau: duke Theman, duke Omar,
duke Sepho, duke Cenez,

16 Duke Core, duke Gatham, duke Amalech: these are the sons of Eliphaz, in
the land of Edom, and these the Bone of
Ada.

17 And these were the sons of Rahuel,
the son of Esau: duke Nahath, duke
Zara, duke Samma, duke Meza. And
these are the dukes of Rahuel, in the
land of Edom: these the sons of Base-
math the wife of Esau.

18 And these the sons of Oolibama the
wife of Esau: duke Jehus, duke Ihelon,
duke Core. These are the dukes of
Oolibama, the daughter of Ana, and wife
of Esau.

19 These are the sons of Esau, and
these the dukes of them: the same is
Edom.

20 These are the sons of Seir the
Horrite, the inhabitants of the land:
Lotan, and Sobal, and Sebeon, and Ana,

21 And Dison, and Eser, and Disan.
These are dukes of the Horrites, the sons
of Seir in the land of Edom.

22 And Lotan had sons: Hori and
Heman. And the sister of Lotan was
Thamna.

23 And these the sons of Sobal: Alvan
and Manahat, and Ebal, and Sepho, and
Oman.

24 And these the sons of Sebeon: Aia
and Ana. This is Ana that found the
hot waters in the wilderness, when he
fed the asses of Sebeon his father:

25 And he had a son Dison, and a
daughter Oolibama.

26 And these were the sons of Dison:
Hamdan, and Eseban, and Jethram, and
Charan.

30 Duke Dison, duke Eser, duke Disan:
these were dukes of the Horrites that
ruled in the land of Seir.

31 And the kings that ruled in the land
of Edom, before the children of Israel
had a king were these:

32 Bela the son of Beer, and the name
of his city Denaba.

33 And Bela died, and Jobab the son of
Zara of Bosra reigned in his stead.

34 And when Jobab was dead, Husam
of the land of the Themanites reigned in
his stead.

35 And after his death, Adad the son
of Badad reigned in his stead, who defeated the Madianites in the country of
Moab: and the name of his city was
Avith.

36 And when Adad was dead, there
reigned in his stead, Semla of Masreca.

37 And he being dead, Saul of the river
Rohoboth, reigned in his stead.

38 And when he also was dead, Balanan
the son of Achobor succeeded to the
kingdom.

39 This man also being dead, Adar
reigned in his place, and the name of his
city was Phau: and his wife was called
Meetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezaab.

40 And these are the names of the dukes
of Esau in their kindreds, and places, and
callings: duke Thamna, duke Alva, duke
Jetheth,

41 Duke Oolibama, duke Ela, duke
Phinon,

42 Duke Cenez, duke Theman, duke
Mabsar,

43 Duke Magdiel, duke Hiram: these
are the dukes of Edom dwelling in the
land of their government; the same is
Esau the father of the Edomites.

Chapter 37

Joseph's dreams: he is sold by his brethren, and carried into Egypt.

1 And Jacob dwelt in the land of Chanaan wherein his father sojourned.

2 And these are his generations: Joseph, when he was sixteen years old, was
feeding the dock with his brethren, being
but a boy: and he was with the sons of
and of Zelpha his father's wives : and
he accused his brethren to his father of a
most wicked crime.

3 Now Israel loved Joseph above all
his sons, because he had him in his old
age: and he made him a coat of divers
colours.

4 And his brethren seeing that he was
loved by his father, more than all his
sons, hated him, and could not speak
peaceably to him.

5 Now it fell out also that he told his
brethren a dream, that he had dreamed:
which occasioned them to hate him the
more.

6 And he said to them: Hear my dream
which I dreamed.

7 I thought we were binding sheaves in
the field: and my sheaf arose as it were,
end stood, and your sheaves standing
about, bowed down before my sheaf.

8 His brethren answered : Shalt thou be
our king? or shall we be subject to thy
dominion? Therefore this matter of his
dreams and words ministered nourishment to their envy and hatred.

9 He dreamed also another dream, which
he told his brethren, saying: I saw in a
dream, as it were the sun, and the moon,
and eleven stars worshipping me.

10 And when he had told this to his
father and brethren, his father rebuked
him, and said: What meaneth this dream
that thou hast dreamed? shall I and thy
mother, and thy brethren worship thee
upon the earth?

11 His brethren therefore envied him:
but his father considered the thing with
himself.

12 And when his brethren abode in
Sichem feeding their father's docks,

13 Israel said to him : Thy brethren feed
the sheep in Sichem: come, I will send
thee to them. And when he answered:

14 I am ready: he said to him: Go, and
see if all things be well with thy brethren,
and the cattle: and bring me word again
what is doing. So being sent from the
vale of Hebron, he came to Sichem:

15 And a man found him there wandering in the field, and asked what he sought.

16 But he answered: I seek my brethren;
tell me where they feed the docks.

17 And the man said to him: They are
departed from this place: for I heard
them say: Let us go to Dothain. And
Joseph went forward after his brethren,
and found them in Dothain.

18 And when they saw him afar off, be-
fore he came nigh them, they thought to
kill him.

19 And said one to another: Behold the
dreamer cometh.

20 Come, let us kill him, and cast him
into some old pit : and we will say : Some
evil beast hath devoured him: and then
it shall appear what his dreams avail him :

21 And Ruben hearing this, endeavoured to deliver him out of their hands,
end said:

22 Do not take away his life, nor shed
his blood: but cast him into this pit, that
is in the wilderness, and keep your hands
harmless: now he said this, being desirous
to deliver him out of their hands and to
restore him to his father.

23 And as soon as he came to his brethren, they forthwith stript him of his
outside coat, that was of divers colours:

24 And cast him into an old pit, where
there was no water.

25 And sitting down to eat bread, they
saw some Ismaelites on their way coming
from Calaad, with their camels, carrying
spices, and balm, and myrrh to Egypt.

26 And Juda said to his brethren: What
will it profit us to kill our brother, and
conceal his blood?

27 It is better that he be sold to the
Ismaelites, and that our hands be not defiled: for he is our brother and our flesh.
His brethren agreed to his words.

28 And when the Madianite merchants
passed by, they drew him out of the pit,
and sold him to the Ismaelites, for twenty
pieces of silver: and they led him into
Egypt.

29 And Ruben, returning to the pit,
found not the boy:

30 And rending his garments he went
to his brethren, and said: The boy doth
not appear and whither shall I go?

31 And they took his coat, and dipped
it in the blood of a kid, which they had
killed :

32 Sending some to carry it to their
father, and to say: This we have found:
see whether it be thy son's coat, or not.

34 And tearing his garments, he put an
sackcloth, mourning for his son a long
time.

35 And alibis children being gathered
together to comfort their father in his
sorrow, he would not receive comfort,
but said: I will go down to my son into
hell, mourning. And whilst he continued weeping,

36 The Madianites sold Joseph in Egypt
to Putiphar, an eunuch of Pharao, captain of the soldiers.

Chapter 38

The sons of Juda: the death of Her and Onan: the birth of Phares and Zara.

1 At that time Juda went down from his
brethren, and turned in to a certain
Odollamite, named Hiras.

2 And he saw there the daughter of a
man of Chanaan, called Sue: and taking
her to wife, he went in unto her.

3 And she conceived, and bore a son,
and called his name Her.

4 And conceiving again, she bore a
son, and called him Onan.

5 She bore also a third: whom she
called Sela. after whose birth, she ceased
to bear any more.

6 And Juda took a wife for Her his
firstborn, whose name was Thamar.

7 And Her, the firstborn of Juda, was
wicked in the sight of the Lord: and
was slain by him.

9 He knowing that the children should
not be his, when he went in to his brother's wife, spilled his seed upon the
ground, lest children should be born in
his brother's name.

10 And therefore the Lord slew him, because he did a detestable thing.

11 Wherefore Juda said to Thamar his
daughter in law: Remain a widow in
thy father's house, till Sela my son grow
up: for he was afraid lest he also might
die, as his brethren did. She went her
way and dwelt in her father's house.

12 And after many days were past, the
daughter of Sue the wife of Juda died:
and when he had taken comfort after
his mourning, he went up to Thamnas, to
the shearers of his sheep, he and Hiras
the Odollamite the shepherd of his flock.

13 And it was told Thamar that her
father in law was come up to Thamnas
to shear his sheep.

14 And she put off the garments of her
widowhood, and took a veil: and changing her dress, sat in the cross way, that
leadeth to Thamnas: because Sela was
grown up, and she had not been married
to him.

16 When Juda saw her, he thought she
was a harlot: for she had covered her
face, lest she should be known.

16 And going to her, he said: Suffer me
to lie with thee: for he knew her not to
be his daughter in law. And she answered: What wilt thou give me to
en
joy my company?

17 He said: I will send thee a kid out
of the flock. And when she said again:
I will suffer what thou wilt, if thou give a
pledge, till thou send what thou promisest,

18 Juda said: What wilt thou have for
a pledge ? She answered: Thy ring and
bracelet, and the staff which thou holdest in thy hand. The woman therefore
at one copulation conceived.

19 And she arose and went her way:
and putting off the apparel which she
had taken, put on the garments of her
widowhood.

20 And Juda sent a kid by his shepherd,
the Odollamite, that he might receive
the pledge again, which he had given to
the woman: but he, not finding her,

21 asked the men of that place : Where
is the woman that sat in the cross way?
And when they all made answer: There
was no harlot in this place,

22 He returned to Juda, and said to him:
I have not found her; moreover the men
of that place said to me, that there never
sat a harlot there.

23 Juda said : Let her take it to herself ;
surely she cannot charge us with a,lie: I
sent the kid which I promised: and thou
didst not find her.

24 And behold after three months they
told a lie, saying: Thamar, thy daughter
in law hath played the harlot, and she appeareth to have a big belly. And Juda
said : Bring her out that she may be burnt.

26 But when she was led to execution,
she sent to her father in law, saying: By
the man, to whom these things belong,
I am with child. See whose ring, and
bracelet, and staff this is.

26 But he acknowledging the gifts,
said: She is juster than I: because I did
not give her to Sela, my son. However,
he knew her no more.

27 And when she was ready to be
brought to bed, there appeared twins in
her womb: and in the very delivery of
the infants, one put forth a hand, whereon the midwife tied a
scarlet thread, saying:

28 This shall come forth the first.

29 But he drawing back his hand, the
other came forth: and the woman said:
Why is the partition divided for thee?
and therefore called his name Phares.

30 Afterwards his brother came out,
on whose hand was the scarlet thread:
and she called him Zara.

Chapter 39

Joseph hath charge of his master's house: rejecteth his mistress's
solicitations: is falsely accused by her, and cat into prison, where he hath the
charge of all the prisoners.

1 And Joseph was brought into Egypt,
and Putiphar an eunuch of Pharao,
chief captain of the army, an Egyptian,
bought him of the Ismaelites, by whom
he was brought.

2 And the Lord was with him, and he
was a prosperous man in all things: and
he dwelt in his master's house,

3 Who knew very well that the Lord
was with him, and made all that he did
to prosper in his hand.

4 And Joseph found favour in the sight
of his master, and ministered to him:
and being set over all by him, he governed the house committed to him, and
all things that were delivered to him:

5 And the Lord blessed the house of
the Egyptian for Joseph's sake, and multiplied all his substance, both at home,
and in the fields.

8 Neither knew he any other thing, but
the bread which he ate. And Joseph was
of a beautiful countenance, and comely
to behold.

7 h And after many days his mistress
'cast her eyes on Joseph, and said: Lie
with me.

8 But he, in no wise consenting to that
wicked act, said to her: Behold, my master hath delivered all things to me, and
knoweth not what he hath in his own
house:

9 Neither is there any thing which is
hot in my power, or that he hath not delivered to me, but thee, who art his wife :
how then can I do this wicked thing, and I
sin against my God?

10 With such words as these day by
day, both the woman was importunate
with the young man, and he refused the
adultery.

11 Now it happened on it certain day,
that Joseph went into the house, and
was doing some business without any,
man with him:

12 And she catching the skirt of his
garment, said: Lie with me. But he
leaving the garment in her hand, fled,
and went out.

13 And when the woman saw the garment in her hands,
and herself disregarded,

14 She called to her the men of her
house, and said to them: See, he hath
brought in a Hebrew, to abuse us: he
came in to me, to lie with me : and when
I cried out,

16 And he heard my voice, he left the
garment that I held, and got him out.

16 For a proof therefore of her fidelity,
she kept the garment, and shewed it to
her husband when he returned home:

17 And said: The Hebrew servant,
whom thou best brought, came to me to
abuse me.

18 And when he heard me cry, he left
the garment which I held, and fled out.

19 His master hearing these things, and
giving too much credit to his wife's
words, was very angry.

20 And cast Joseph into the prison,
where the king's prisoners were kept,
and he was there shut up.

21 But the Lord was with Joseph and
having mercy upon him gave him favour
in the sight of the chief keeper of the
prison:

22 Who delivered into his hand all the
prisoners that were kept in custody: and
whatsoever was done was under him.

23 Neither did he himself know any
thing, having committed all things to
him: for the Lord was with him, and
made all that he did to prosper.

Chapter 40

Joseph interpreteth the dreams of two of Pharao's servants in prison: the
event declareth the interpretations to be true, but Joseph is forgotten.

1 After this, it came to pass, that two
eunuchs, the butler and the baker
of the king of Egypt, offended their
lord.

2 And Pharao being angry with them
(now the one was chief butler, the other
chief baker)

3 He sent them to the prison of the
commander of the soldiers, in which
Joseph also was prisoner,

4 But the keeper of the prison delivered
them to Joseph, and he served them.
Some little time passed, and they were
kept in custody.

5 And they both dreamed a dream the
same night, according to the interpretation agreeing to themselves:

6 And when Joseph was come in to them
in the morning, and saw them sad,

7 He asked them, saying: Why is your
oountenance sadder to day than usual?

8 They answered: We have dreamed a
dream, and there is nobody to interpret
it to us. And Joseph said to them: Both
not interpretation belong to God? Tell
me what you have dreamed.
g The chief butler first told his dream:
I saw before me a vine,

10 On which were three branches, which
by little and little sent out buds, and
after the blossoms brought forth ripe
grapes :

11 And the cup of Pharao was in my
hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed
them into the cup which I held, and I
gave the cup to Pharao.

12 Joseph answered: This is the interpretation of the dream: The three
branches are yet three days:

13 After which Pharao will remember
thy service, and will restore thee to thy
former place: and thou shah present
him the cup according to thy office, as
before thou wast wont to do.

14 Only remember me, when it shall be
well with thee, and do me this kindness:
to put Pharao in mind to take me out of
this prison:

16 For I was stolen away out of the land I
of the Hebrews, and here without any
fault was cast into the dungeon.

16 The chief baker seeing that he had
wisely interpreted the dream, said: I also
dreamed a dream, That I bed three baskets of meal upon my heed:

17 And that in one basket which was
uppermost, I carried all meats that are
made by the art of baking, and that the
birds ate out of it.

18 Joseph answered: This is the interpretation of the dream: The
three baskets are yet three days:

19 After which Pharao will take thy
hand from thee, and hang thee on a
cross, and the birds shall tear thy flesh.

20 The third day after this was the
birthday of Pharao: and he made a. great
feast for his servants, and at the banquet
remembered the chief butler, and the
chief baker.

21 And he restored the one to his place
to present him the cup:

22 The other he hanged on a gibbet,
that the truth of the interpreter might
be shewn.

23 But the chief butler, when things prospered with him, forgot his interpreter.

Chapter 41

Joseph interpreteth the two dreams of Pharao: he is made ruler over all
Egypt.

1 After two years Pharao had a dream.
He thought he stood by the river,

2 Out of which came up seven kine,
very beautiful and fat: and they fed in
marshy places.

3 Other seven also came up out of the
river, ill favoured, and leanfleshed: and
they fed on the very bank of the river,
in green places:

4 And they devoured them, whose bodies were very beautiful and well
conditioned. So Pharao awoke.

6 He slept again, and dreamed another
dream: Seven ears of corn came up upon
one stalk full and fair:

6 Then seven other ears sprung up thin
and blasted,

7 And devoured all the beauty of the
former. Pharao awaked after his rest:

8 And when morning was come, being
struck with fear, he sent to all the interpreters
of Egypt, and to all the wise
men: and they being called for, he told
them his dream, and there was not any
one that could interpret it.

9 Then at length the chief butler remembering, said: I confess my sin:

10 The king being angry with his servants, commanded me and the chief baker
to be cast into the prison of the captain
of the soldiers:

11 Where in one night both of us
dreamed a dream foreboding things to
come.

12 There was there a young man a
Hebrew, servant to the same captain
of the soldiers: to whom we told our
dreams,

13 And we heard what afterwards the
event of the thing proved to be so. For
I was restored to my office: and he was
hanged upon a gibbet.

14 Forthwith at the king's command,
Joseph was brought out of the prison,
and they shaved him, and changing his
apparel, brought him in to him.

15 And he said to him: I have dreamed dreams, and there is no one that can expound them: Now I have heard that thou art very wise at interpreting them.

17 So Pharao told what he had dreamed: Methought I stood upon the bank of the river,

18 And seven kine came up out of the river exceeding beautiful and full of flesh: and they grazed on green places in a marshy pasture.

19 And behold, there followed these, other seven kine, so very ill favoured and lean, that I never saw the like in the land of Egypt:

20 And the devoured and consumed the former,

21 And yet gave no mark of their being full: but were as lean and ill favoured as before. I awoke, and then fell asleep again,

22 And dreamed a dream: Seven ears of corn grew upon one stalk, full and very fair.

23 Other seven also thin and blasted, sprung of the stock:

24 And they devoured the beauty of the former: I told this dream to the conjecturers, and there is no man that can expound it.

25 Joseph answered: The king's dream is one: God hath shewn to Pharao what he is about to do.

26 The seven beautiful kine, and the seven full ears, are seven years of plenty: and both contain the same meaning of the dream.

27 And the seven lean and thin kine that came up after them, and the seven thin ears that were blasted with the burning wind, are seven years of famine to come:

28 Which shall be fulfilled in this order:

29 Behold, there shall come seven years of great plenty in the whole land of Egypt:

30 After which shall follow other seven years of so great scacity, that all the abundance before shall be forgotten: for the famine shall consume all the land,

31 And the greatness of the scarcity shall destroy the greatness of the plenty.

32 And for that thou didst see the second time a dream pertaining to the same thing: it is a token of the certainty, and that the word of God cometh to pass, and is fulfilled speedily.

33 Now therefore let the king provide a wise and industrious man, and make him ruler over the land of Egypt:

34 That he may appoint overseers over all the countries: and gather into barns the fifth part of the fruits, during the seven fruitful years,

35 That shall now presently ensue: and let all the corn be laid up under Pharao's hands and be reserved in the cities.

36 And let it be in readiness, against the famine of seven years to come, which shall oppress Egypt, and the land shall not consumed with scarcity.

37 The counsel pleased Pharao and all his servants.

38 And he said to them: Can we find such another man, that is full of the spirit of God?

39 He said therefore to Joseph: Seeing God hath shewn thee all that thou hast said, can I find one wiser and one like unto thee?

40 Thou shalt be over my house, and at the commandment of thy mouth all the people shall obey: only in the kingly throne will I be above thee.

41 And again Pharao said to Joseph: Behold, I have appointed thee over the whole land of Egypt.

42 And he took his ring from his own hand, and gave it into his hand: and he put upon him a robe of silk, and put a chain of gold about his neck.

43 And he made him go up into his second chariot, the crier proclaiming that all should bow their knee before him, and that they should know he was made govenor over the whole land of Egypt.

44 And the king said to Joseph: I am Pharao; without thy commandment no man shall move hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.

45 And he turned his name, and called him in the Eyyptian tounge, The saviour of the world. And he gave him to wife Asenth the daughter of Putiphare priest of Heliopolis. Then Joseph went out to the land of Egypt:

46 (Now he was thirty years old when he stood before king Pharao) and he went round all the countries of Egypt.

47 And the fruitfulness of the seven years came: and the corm being bound up into sheaves was gathered together into the barns of Egypt.

48 And all the abundance of grain was laid up in every city.

49 And there was so great abundance of wheat, that it was equal to the sand of the sea, and the plenty exceeded measure.

50 And before the famine came, Joseph had two sons born: whom Aseneth the daughter of Putiphare priest of Heliopolis bore unto him.

51 And he called the name of the first born Manasses, saying: God hath made me to forget all my labours, and my father's house.

52 And he named the second Epharaim, saying: God hath made me to grow in the land of my poverty.

53 Now when the seven years of the plenty that had been in Egypt were past:

54 The seven years of scarcity, which Joseph had foretold, began to come: and the famine prevailed in the whole world, but there was bread in all the land of Egypt.

55 And when there also they began to be famished, the people cried to Pharao for food. And he said to them: Go to Joseph: and do all that he shall say to you.

56 And the famine increased daily in all the land: and Joseph opened all the barns, and sold to the Egyptians: for the famine had oppressed them also.

57 And all provinces came into Egypt, to buy food, and to seek some relief of their want.

Chapter 42

Jacob sendeth his ten sons to buy corn in Egypt. Their treatment by
Joseph.

1 And Jacob hearing that food was sold in Egypt, said to his sons: Why are ye careless?

2 I have heard that wheat is sold in Egypt: go ye down, and buy us necessaries, that we may live, and not be consumed with want.

3 So the ten brethren of Joseph went down, to buy corn in Egypt:

4 Whilst Benjamin was kept at home by Jacob, who said to his brethren: Lest perhaps he take any harm in the journey.

5 And they entered into the land of Egypt with others that went to buy. For the famine was in the land of Chanaan.

6 And Joseph was governor in the land of Egypt, and corn was sold by his direction to the people. And when his brethren had bowed down to him,

7 And he knew them, he spoke as it were to strangers somewhat roughly, asking them: Whence came you? They answered: From the land of Chanaan, to buy necessaries of life.

8 And though he knew his brethren, he was not known by them.

9 And remembering the dreams, which formerly he had dreamed, he said to them: You are spies. You are come to view the weaker parts of the land.

10 But they said: It is not so, my lord, but thy servants are come to buy food.

11 We are all the sons of one man: we are come as peaceable men, neither do thy servants go about any evil.

12 And he answered them: It is otherwise: you are come to consider the unfenced parts of this land.

13 But they said: We thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Chanaan: the youngest is with our father, the other is not living.

14 He saith: This is it that I said: You are spies.

15 I shall now presently try what you are: by the health of Pharao you shall not depart hence, until your youngest brother come.

16 Send one of you to fetch him: and you shall be in prison, till what you have said be proved, whether it be true or false: or else by the health of Pharao you are spies.

17 So he put them in prison three days.

18 And the third day he brought them out of prison, and said: Do as I have said, and you shall live: for I fear God.

19 If you be peaceable men, let one of your brethren be bound in prison: and go ye your ways and carry the corn that you have bought, unto your houses.

20 And bring your youngest brother to me, that I may find your words to be true, and you may not die. They did as he had said.

21 And they talked one to another: We deserve to suffer these things, because we have sinned against our brother, seeing the anguished of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear: therefore is this affliction come upon us.

22 And Ruben one of them, said: Did not I say to you: Do not sin against the boy: and you would not hear me? Behold his blood is required.

23 And they knew not that Joseph understood, because he spoke to them by an interpreter.

24 And he turned himself away a little while, and wept: and returning he spoke to them.

25 And taking Simeon, and binking him in their presence, he commanded his servants to fill their sacks with wheat, and to put every man's money again in their sacks, and to give them besides provisions for the way: and they did so.

26 But they having loaded their asses with the corn, went their way.

27 And one of them opening his sack, to give his beast provender in the inn, saw the money in the sack's mouth;

28 And said to his brethren: My money is given me again, hehold it is in the sack. And thye were astonished, and troubled, and said to one another: What is this that God hath done unto us?

29 And they came to Jacob their father in the land of Chanaan, and they told him all things that had befallen them, saying:

30 The lord of the land spoke roughly to us, and took us to be spies of the country.

31 And we answered him: We are peaceable men, and we mean no plot.

32 We are twelve brethren born of one father: one is not living, the youngest is with our father in the land of Chanaan.

33 And he said to us: Hereby shall I know that you are peaceable men: Leave one of your brethren with me, and take ye necessary provision for your houses, and go your ways.

34 And bring your youngest brother to me, that I may know you are not spies: and you may receive this man again, that is kept in prison: and afterwards may have leave to buy what you will.

35 When they had told this, they poured out their corn and every man found his money tied in the mouth of his sack: and all being astonished together,

36 Their father Jacob said: You have made me to be without children: Joseph is not living, Simeon is kept in bonds, and Benjamin you will take away: all these evils are fallen upon me.

37 And Ruben answered him: Kill my two sons if I bring him not again to thee: deliver him unto my hand, and I will restore him to thee.

38 But he said: My son shall not go down with you: his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if any mischief befall him in the land to which you go, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to hell.

Chapter 43

The sons of Jacob go again into Egypt with Benjamin. They are entertained
by Joseph.

1 In the mean time the famine was heavy upon all the land.

2 And when they had eaten up all the corn, which they had brought out of Egypt, Jacob said to his sons: Go again and buy us a little food.

3 Juda answered: The man declared unto us with the attestation of an oath, saying: You shall not see my face, unless you bring your youngest brother with you.

4 If therefore thou wilt send him with us, we will set out together, and will buy necessaries for thee.

5 But if thou wilt not, we will not go: for the man, as we have often said, declared unto us, saying: You shall not see my face without your youngest brother.

6 Israel said to them: You have done this for my misery in that you told him you had also another brother.

7 But they answered: The man asked us in order concerning our kindred: if our father lived: if we had a brother: and we answered him regularly, according to what he demanded: Bring hither your brother with you?

8 And Juda said to his father: Send the bou with me, that we may set forward, and may live: lest both we and our children perish.

9 I take the boy upon me, require him at my hand: unless I bring him again, and restore him to thee, I will be guilty of sin against thee for ever.

10 If delay had not been made, we had been here again the second time.

11 Then Israel said to them: If it must needs be so, do what you will: take of the best fruits of the land in your vessels, and carry down presents to the man, a little balm, and honey, and storax, myrrh, turpentine, and almonds.

12 And take with you double money, and carry back what you found in your sacks, lest perhaps it was done by mistake.

13 And take also your brother, and go to the man.

14 And may my almighty Bod make him favourable to you; and send back with you your brother, whom he keepeth, and this Benjamin: and as for me I shall be desolate without children.

15 So the men took the presents, and double money, and Benjamin: and went down into Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

16 And when he had seen them, and Benjamin with them, he commanded the steward of his house, saying: Bring in the men into the house, and kill victims, and prepare a feast: because they shall eat with me at noon.

17 He did as he was commanded, and brought the men into the house.\

18 And they being much afraid, said there one to another: Because of the money, which we carried back the first time in our sacks, we are brought in: that he may bring upon us a false accusation, and by violence make slaves of us and our asses.

19 Wherefore going up to the steward of the house, at the door,

20 They said: Sir, we desire thee to hear us: We came down once before to buy food:

21 And when we had bought, and come to the inn, we opened our sacks, and found our money in the mouths of the sacks: which we have now brought again in the same weight.

22 And we have brought other money besides, to buy what we want: we cannot tell who put it in our bags.

23 But he answered: Peace be with you, fear not: your God, and the God of your Father hath given you treasure in your sacks. For the money, which you gave me, I have for good. And he brought Simeon out to them.

24 And having brought them into the house, he fetched water, and they washed their feet, and he gave provender to their asses.

25 But they made ready the presents, against Joseph came at noon: for they had heard that they should eat bread there.

26 Then Joseph came into his house, and they offered him the presents holding them in their hands, and they bowed down with their face to the ground.

27 But he, courteously saluting them again, asked them, saying: Is the old man your father in health, of whom uou told me? Is he yet living?

28 And they answered: Thy servant our father is in health, he is yet living. And bowing themselves they made obeisance to him.

29 And Joseph lifting up his eyes, saw Benjamin his brother, by the same mother, and said: Is this your young brother, of whom you told me? And he said: God be gracious to thee, my son.

30 And he made haste becouse his heart was moved upon his brother, and tears gushed out: And going into his chamber he wept.

31 And when he had washed his face, coming out again, he refrained himself, and said: Set bread on the table.

32 And when it was set on, for Joseph apart, and for his brethren apart, for the Egyptians also that ate with him, apart, (for it is unlawful for the Egyptians to eat with the Hebrews, and they think such a feast profane:)

33 They sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his age. And they wondered very much:

34 Taking the messes which they received of him: and the greater mess came to Benjamin, so that it exceeded by five parts. And they drank, and were merry with him.

Chapter 44

Joseph's contrivance to stop his brethren. The humble supplication of
Juda.

1 And Joseph commanded the steward of his house, saying: Fill their sacks with corn, as much as they can hold: and put the money of every one in the top of his sack.

2 And in the mouth of the younger's sack put my silver cup, and the price which he gave for the wheat. And it was so done.

3 And when the morning arose, they were sent away with their asses.

4 And when they were now departed out of the city, and had gone forward a little way; Joseph sendingfor the steward of his house, said: Arise, and pursue after the men: and when thou hast overtaken them, say to them: Why have you returned evil for
good?

5 The cup which you have stolen is that in which my lord drinketh, and in which he is wont to divine: you have done a very evil thing.

6 He did as he had commanded him. And having overtaken them, he spoke to them the same words.

7 And they answered: Why doth our lord speak so, as though thy servants had committed so heinous a fact?

8 The money, that we found in the top of our sacks, we brought back to thee from the land of Chanaan: how then should it be that we should steal out of thy lord's house, gold or silver?\

9 With whomsoever of thy servants shall be found that which thou seekest, let him die, and we will be the bondmen of my lord.

10 And he said to them: Let it be according to your sentence: with whomsoever it shall be found, let him be my servant, and you shall be blameless.

11 Them they speedily took down their sacks to the ground, and every man opened his sack.

12 Which when he had searched, beginning at the eldest and ending at the youngest, he found the cup in Benjamin's sack.

13 Then they rent their garments, and loading their asses again, returned into the town.

14 And Juda at the head of his brethren went in to Joseph, (for he was not yet gone out of the place, ) and they altogether fell down before him on the ground.

15 And he said to them: Why would you do so? know you not that there is no one like me in the science of divining.

16 And Juda said to him: What shall we answer my lord? or what shall we say, or be able justly to allege? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are all bondmen to my lord, both we, and he with whom the cup was found.

17 Joseph answered: God forbid that should do so: he that stole the cup, he shall be my bondman: and go you away free to your father.

18 Then Juda coming hearer, said boldly: I beseech thee, my lord, let thy servant speak a word in thy ears,and be not angry with thy servant: for after Pharao thou art,

19 My lord. Thou didst ask thy servants the first time: Have you a father or a brother?

20 And we answered thee, my lord: We have a father an old man, and a young boy, that was born in his old age; whose brother by the mother is dead: and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him tenderly.

21 And thou saidst to thy servants: Bring him hither to me, and I will set my eyes on him.

22 We suggested to my lord: The boy cannot leave his father: for if he leave him, he will die.

24 Therefore when we were gone up to thy servant our father, we told him all that my lord had said.

25 And our father said: Go again, and buy us a little wheat.

26 And we said to him: We cannot go: if our youngest brother go down with us, we will set out together: otherwise, without him we dare not see the man's face.

27 Whereunto he answered: You know that my wife bore two.

28 One went out, and you said: A beast devoured him: and hitherto he appeareth not.

29 If you take this also, and any thing befall him in the way you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow unto hell.

30Therefore if I shall go to thy servant our father, and the boy be wanting, (whereas his life dependeth upon the life of him,)

31 And he shall see that he is not with us, he will die, and thy servants shall bring down his gray hairs with sorrow unto hell.

32 Let me be thy proper servant, who took him into my trust, and promised, saying: If I bring him not again, I will be guilty of sin against my father for ever.

33 Therefore I thy servant will stay instead of the boy in the service of my lord, and let the boy go up with his brethren.

34 For I cannot return to my father without the boy, lest I be a witness of the calamity that will oppress my father.

Chapter 45

Joseph maketh himself known to his brethren: and sendeth for his father.

1 Joseph could no longer refrain himself before many that stood by: whereupon he commanded that all should go out, and no stranger be present at their knowing one another.

2 And he lifted up his voice with weeping, which the Egyptians and all the house of Pharao heard. \

3 And he said to his brethren: I am Joseph: is my father yet living? His brethren could no answer him, being struck with exceeding great fear.

4 And he said mildly to them: Come nearer to me. And when they were come near him, he said: I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.

5 Be not afraid, and let it not seem to you a hard case that you sold me into these countries: for God sent me before you into Egypt for your preservation.

6 For it is two years since the famine began to be upon the land, and five years more remain, wherein there can be neither ploughing nor reaping.

7 And God sent me before, that you may be preserved upon the earth, and may have food to live.

8 Not by your counsel was I sent hither, but by the will of God: who hath made me as it were a father to Pharao, and lord of his
whole house, and governor in all the land of Egypt.

9 Make haste, and go ye up to my father, and say to him: Thus saith thy son Joseph: God hath made me lord of the whole land of Egypt: come down to me, linger not.

10 And thou shalt dwell in the land of Gessen: and thou shalt be near me, thou and thy sons, and thy son's sons, thy sheep, and thy
herds, and all things that thou hast.

11 And there I will feed thee, (for there are yet five years of famine remaining,) lest both thou perish, and thy house, and all things that thou hast.

12 Behold, your eyes, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my mouth that speaketh to you.

13 You shall tell my father of all my glory, and all things that you have seen in Egypt: make haste and bring him to me.

14 And falling upon the neck of his
brother Benjamin, he embraced him and
wept: and Benjamin in like manner wept
also on his neck.

15 And Joseph kissed all his brethren,
and wept upon every one of them:
after which they were emboldened to
,peak to him.

16 And it was heard, and the fame was
abroad in the king's court: The brethren
of Joseph are come: and Pharao with
all his family was glad.

17 And he spoke to Joseph that he should
give orders to his brethren, saying : Load
your beasts, and go into the land of
Chanaan.

18 And bring away from thence your
father and kindred, and come to me: and
I will give you all the good things of
Egypt, that you may eat the marrow of
the land.

19 Give orders also that they take
wagons out of the land of Egypt, for/
the carriage of their children and their
wives: and say: Take up your father,
and make haste to come with all speed:

20 And leave nothing of your house-
hold stuff: for all the riches of Egypt
shall be yours.

21 And the sons of Israel did as they
were bid. And Joseph gave them wagons
according to Pharao's commandment:
and provisions for the way.

22 He ordered also to be brought out
for every one of them two robes: but to
Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces
of silver with Ave robes of the best:

23 Sending to his father as much money
and raiment, adding besides ten he asses
to carry off all the riches of Egypt, and
as many she asses, carrying wheat and
bread for the journey.

24 So he sent away his brethren, and at
their departing said to them: Be not
angry in the way.

25 And they went up out of Egypt, and
came into the land of Chanaan to their
father Jacob.

26 And they told him, saying: Joseph
thy son is living: and he is ruler in all
the land of Egypt. Which when Jacob
heard, he awaked as it were out of a
deep sleep, yet did not believe them.

27 They, on the other side, told the
whole order of the thing. And when he
saw the wagons and all that he had sent
his spirit revived,

28 And he said: It is enough for me, if
Joseph my son be yet living: I will go
and see him before I die.

Chapter 46

Israel, warranted by a vision from God, goeth down into Egypt with all
his family.

1 And Israel taking his journey, with
all that he had, came to the well of
the oath, and killing victims there to the
God of his father Isaac,

2 He heard him by a vision in the night
calling him, and saying to him: Jacob,
Jacob. And he answered him: Lo, here
I am.

3 God said to him: I am the most mighty
God of thy father: fear not, go down
into Egypt, for I will make a great nation
of thee there.

4 I will go down with thee thither, and
will bring thee back again from thence:
Joseph also shall put his hands upon thy
eyes.

5 And Jacob rose up from the well of
the oath: and his sons took him up,
with their children and wives in the
wagons, which Pharao had sent to carry
the old man,

6 And all that he had in the land of
Chanaan, and he came into Egypt with
all his seed:"

7 His sons, and grandsons, daughters,
and all his offspring together.

8 And these are the names of the children of Israel, that entered into Egypt, he
and his children. His firstborn Ruben,

9 The sons of Ruben: Henoch and
Phallu, and Hesron and Charmi.

10 The sons of Simeon: Jamuel and
Jamin and Ahod, and Jachin and Sohar,
and Saul the son of a woman of Chanaan.

11 The sons of Levi: Gerson and
Caath and Merari.

12 The sons of Juda: Her and Onan
and Sela and Phares and Zara. And Her
and Onan died in the land of Chanaan.
And sons were born to Phares: Hesron
and Hamul.

13 The sons of Issachar: Thola and
Phua and Job and Semron.

14 The sons of Zabulon: Sared and Elo
and Jahelel.

15 These are the sons of Lia, whom she
bore in Mesopotamia of Syria, with Dins
his daughter. All the souls of her sons
and daughters, thirty-three.

16 The sons of Cad: Sephian and Haggi
and Suni and Esebon and Heri and Arodi
and Areli.

17 The sons of Beer: Jamne and Jesua
and Jessuri and Beria, and Sara their
sister. The sons of Beria: Heber and
Melchiel.

18 These are the sons of Zelpha, whom
Laban gave to Lia his daughter. And
these she bore to Jacob, sixteen souls.

19 The sons of Rachel Jacob's wife:
Joseph and Benjamin.

20 And sons were born to Joseph, in
the land of Egypt, whom Aseneth the
daughter of Putiphare priest of Heliopolis bore him: Manasses and Ephraim.

21 The sons of Benjamin: Bela and
Bechor and Asbel and Gera and Naaman
and Echi and Ros and Mophim and
Ophim and Ared.

22 These are the sons of Rachel, whom
she bore to Jacob: all the souls, four-
teen.

23 The sons of Dan: Husim.

24 The sons of Nephtali: Jaziel and
Guni and Jeser and Sallem.

25 These are the sons of Bala, whom
Laban gave to Rachel his daughter: and
these she bore to Jacob: all the souls,
seven.

26 All the souls that went with Jacob
into Egypt, and that came out of his
thigh, besides his sons' wives, sixty-six.

27 And the sons of Joseph, that were
born to him in the land of Egypt, two
souls. All the souls of the house of
Jacob, that entered into Egypt, were
seventy.

28 And he sent Juda before him to Joseph, to tell him; and that he should
meet him in Gessen.

29 And when he was come thither, Joseph made ready his chariot, and went
up to meet his father, in the same place:
and seeing him, he fell upon his neck,
and embracing him wept.

30 And the father said to Joseph: Now
shall I die with joy, because I have seen
thy face, and leave thee alive.

31 And Joseph said to his brethren, and
to all his father's house: I will go up,
and will tell Pharao, and will say to him:
My brethren and my father's house, that
were in the land of Chanaan, are come
to me:

32 And the men are shepherds, and
their occupation is to feed cattle: their
flocks and herds, and all they have, they
have brought with them.

33 And when he shall call you, and shall
say: What is your occupation?

34 You shall answer: We thy servants
are shepherds, from our infancy until
now, both we and our fathers. And this
you shall say, that you may dwell in the
land of Gessen, because the Egyptians
have all shepherds in abomination.

Chapter 47

Jacob and his sons are presented before Pharao: he giveth them the land
of Gessen. The famine forceth the Egyptians to sell all their possessions to the
king.

1 Then Joseph went in and told Pharao,
saying: My father and brethren,
their sheep and their herds, and all that
they possess, are come out of the land of
Chanaan: and behold they stay in the
land of Gessen.

2 Five men also the last of his brethren,
he presented before the king:

3 And he asked them: What is your
occupation? They answered: Re thy
servants are shepherds, both we, and our
fathers.

4 We are come to sojourn in thy land,
because there is no grass for the flocks
of thy servants, the famine being very
grievous in the land of Chanaan: and
we pray thee to give orders that we thy
servants may be in the land of Gessen.

5 The king therefore said to Joseph:
Thy father and thy brethren are come to
thee.

6 The land of Egypt is before thee:
make them dwell in the best place, and
give them the land of Gessen. And if
thou knowest that there are industrious
men among them, make them rulers over
my cattle.

7 After this Joseph brought in his
to the king, and presented him before
him: and he blessed him.

8 And being asked by him: How many
are the days of the years of thy life?

9 He answered: The days of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years,
few, and evil, and they are not come
up to the days of the pilgrimage of my
fathers.

10 And blessing the king, he went out.

11 But Joseph gave a possession to his
father and his brethren in Egypt, in the
best place of the land, in Ramesses, as
Pharao had commanded.

12 And he nourished them, and all his
father's house, allowing food to every
one.

13 For in the whole world there was
want of bread, and a famine had op-
pressed the land: more especially of
Egypt and Chanaan.

14 Out of which he gathered up all the
money for the corn which they bought,
and brought it into the king's treasure.

15 And when the buyers wanted money,
all Egypt came to Joseph, saying: Give
us bread: why should we die in thy
presence, having now net money.

16 And he answered them: Bring
your cattle, and for them I will give you
food, if you have no money.

17 And when they had brought them,
he gave them food in exchange for their
horses, and sheep, and oxen, end asses
and he maintained them that year for the
exchange of their cattle.

18 And they came the second year, and
said to him: We will not hide from our
lord, how that our money is spent, and
our cattle also are gone: neither art
thou ignorant that we have nothing now
left but our bodies and our lands.

19 Why therefore shall we die before
thy eyes? we will be thins, both we and
our lands: buy us to be the king's servants, and give us seed, lest for want of
tillers the land be turned into a wilderness.

20 So Joseph bought all the land of
Egypt, every man selling his possessions,
because of the greatness of the famine.
And he brought it into Pharao's hands:

21 And all its people from one end of
the borders of Egypt, even to the other
end thereof,

22 Except the land of the priests,
which had been given them by the
king: to whom also a certain allowance
of food was given out of the public stores,
and therefore they were not forced to
sell their possessions.

23 Then Joseph said to the people : Be-
hold as you see, both you and your lands
belong to Pharao: take seed and sow the
fields,

24 That you may have corn. The fifth
part you shall give to the king: the
other four you shall have for seed, and
for food for your families and children.

25 And they answered: Our life is in
thy hand: only let my lord look favourably upon us, and we will gladly serve the
king.

26 From that time unto this day, in the
whole land of Egypt, the fifth part is
paid to the king, and it is become as a
law, except the land of the priests, which
was free from this covenant.

27 So Israel dwelt in Egypt, that is, in
the land of Gessen, and possessed it:
and grew, and was multiplied exceedingly.

28 And he lived in it seventeen years:
and all the days of his life came to a
hundred and forty-seven years.

29 And when he saw that the day of
his death drew nigh, he called his son
Joseph, and said to him: If I have found favor in thy sight, put thy hand under
my thigh; and thou shalt shew me this
kindness and truth, not to bury me in
Egypt:

30 But I will sleep with my fathers, end
thou shalt take me away out of this land,
and bury me in the burying place of my
ancestors. And Joseph answered him:
I will do what thou hast commanded.

31 And he said: Swear then to me.
And as he was swearing, Israel adored
God, turning to the bed's head.

Chapter 48

Joseph visiteth his father in his sickness, who adopteth his two sons
Manasses and Ephraim, and blesseth them, preferring the younger before the
elder.

1 After these things, it was told Joseph that his father was sick: and
he set out to go to him, taking his two
sons Manasses and Ephraim.

2 And it was told the old man: Behold I
thy son Joseph cometh to thee. And
being strengthened he sat on his bed.

3 And when Joseph was come in to him,
he said : God Almighty appeared to me
at Lute, which is in the land of Chanaan: and he blessed me,

4 And he said : I will cause thee to increase and multiply, and I will make of
thee a multitude of people: and I will
give this land to thee, and to thy seed
after thee for an everlasting possession.

5 So thy two sons who were born to
thee in the land of Egypt before I came
hither to thee, shall be mine: Ephraim
and Manasses shall be reputed to me as
Ruben and Simeon.

6 But the rest whom thou shalt have
after them, shall be thine, and shall be
called by the name of their brethren in
their possessions.

7 For, when I came out of Mesopotamia,
Rachel died from me in the land of
Ohanaan in the very journey, and it was
springtime: and I was going to Ephrata,
and I buried her near the way of Ephrata, which by another name is called
Bethlehem.

8 Then seeing his sons, he said to him:
Who are these?

9 He answered: They are my sons,
whom God hath given me in this place.
And he said: Bring them to me that I
may bless them.

10 For Israel's eyes were dim by reason
of his great age, and he could not see
clearly. And when they were brought
to him, he kissed and embraced them.

11 And said to his son: I am not deprived of seeing thee: moreover God
hath shewed me thy seed.

12 And when Joseph had taken them
from his father's lap, he bowed down
with his face to the ground.

13 And he set Ephraim on his right
bend, that is, towards the left hand of
Israel; but Manasses on his left hand, to
wit, towards his father's right hand, and
brought them near to him.

14 But he stretching forth his right hand,
put it upon the head of Ephraim the
younger brother; and the left upon the
head of Manasses who was the elder,
changing his hands.

15 And Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph, and said: God, in whose sight my
fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, God
that feedeth me from my youth until
this day;

16 The angel that delivereth me from
all evils, bless these boys: and let my
name be called upon them, and the names
of my fathers Abraham, and Isaac, and
may they grow into a multitude upon
the earth.

17 And Joseph seeing that his father
had put his right hand upon the head
of Ephraim, was much displeased: and
taking his father's hand he tried to lift
it from Ephraims head, and to remove
it to the head of Manasses.

18 And he said to his father: It should
not be so, my father: for this is the first-
born, put thy right hand upon his head.

19 But he refusing, said: I know, my
son, I know: and this also shall become
peoples, and shall be multiplied: but
this younger brother shall be greater
than he: and his seed shall grow into
nations.

20 And he blessed them at that time,
saying: In thee shall Israel be blessed,
and it shall be said: God do to thee as
to Ephraim, and as to Manasses. And
he set Ephraim before Manasses.

21 And he said to Joseph his son: Be-
hold I die, and God will be with you,
and will bring you back into the land of
your fathers.

22 I give thee a portion above thy
brethren, which I took out of the hand of
the Amorrhite a with my sword and bow.

Chapter 49

Jacob's prophetical blessings of his twelve sons: his death.

1 And Jacob called his sons, and said to
them: Gather yourselves together
that I may tell you the things that shall
befall you in the last days.

4 Thou art poured out as water, grow
thou not: because thou wentest up to thy
father's bed, and didst defile his couch.

5 Simeon and Levi brethren: vessels of
iniquity, waging war.

6 Let not my soul go into their counsel,
nor my glory be in their assembly: "be-
cause in their fury they slew a man, and
in their selfwill they undermined a wall.

7 Cursed be their fury, because it was
stubborn: and their wrath because it
was cruel: I Will divide them in Jacob,
and will scatter them in Israel.

8 Juda, thee shall thy brethren praise:
thy hands shall be on the necks of thy
enemies: the sons of thy father shall bow
down to thee.

9 Juda is a lion's whelp: to the prey,
my son, thou art gone up: resting thou
hast couched as a lion, and as a lioness,
who shall rouse him?

10 The sceptre shall not be taken away
from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till
he come that is to be sent, and he shall
be the expectation of nations.

11Tying his foal to the vineyard, and
his ass, 0 my son, to the vine. He shall
wash his robe in wine, and his garment
in the blood of the grape.

12 His eyes are more beautiful than
wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.

13 Zabulon shall dwell on the sea shore,
and in the road of ships, reaching as far
as Sidon.

14 Issachar shall be a strong ass lying
down between the borders.

16 He saw rest that it was good: and
the land that it was excellent: and he
bowed his shoulder to carry, and became
a servant under tribute.

16 Dan shall judge his people like an-
other tribe in Israel.

17 Let Dan be a snake in the way, a serpent in the path, that biteth the horse's
heels that his rider may fall backward.

18 I will look for thy salvation, 0 Lord.

19 Gad, being girded, shall fight before
him: and he himself shall be girded
backward.

20 Aser, his bread shall be fat, and he
shall yield dainties to kings.

21 Nephtali, a hart let loose, and giving
words of beauty.

22 Joseph is a growing son, a growing
son and comely to behold; the daughters
run to and fro upon the wall.

23 But they that held darts provoked
him, and quarrelled with him, and envied
him.

24 His bow rested upon the strong, and
the bands of his arms and his hands were
loosed, by the hands of the mighty one
of Jacob: thence he came forth a pastor,
the stone of Israel.

26 The God of thy father shall be thy
helper, and the Almighty shall bless thee
with the blessings of heaven above, with
the blessings of the deep that lieth be-
neath, with the blessings of the breasts
and of the womb.

26 The blessings of thy father are
strengthened with the blessings of his
fathers: until the desire of the everlasting hills should come; may they be upon
the head of Joseph, and upon the crown
of the Nazarite among his brethren.

27 Benjamin a ravenous wolf, in the
morning shall eat the prey, and in the
evening shall divide the spoil.

28 All these are the twelve tribes of
Israel: these things their father spoke
to them, and he blessed every one, with
their proper blessings.

29 And he charged them, saying: I am
now going to be gathered to my people :
bury me with my fathers in the double
cave, which is in the field of Ephron the
Hethite,

30 Over against Mambre in the land of
Chanaan, which Abraham bought to-
gather with the field of Ephron the
Hethite for a possession to bury in.

31 There they buried him, and Sara his
wife: there was Isaac buried with Rebecca his wife: there also Lia doth lie
buried.

32 And when he had ended the commandments, wherewith he instructed his
sons, he drew up his feet upon the bed,
and died: and he was gathered to his
people."

Chapter 50

The mourning for Jacob, and his interment. Joseph's kindness towards his
brethren. His death.

1 And when Joseph saw this, he fell
upon his father's face weeping and
kissing him.

2 And he commanded his servants the
physicians to embalm his father.

3 And while they were fulfilling his
commands, there passed forty days: for
this was the manner with bodies that
were embalmed, and Egypt mounted for
him seventy days.

4 And the time of the mourning being
expired, Joseph spoke to the family of
Pharao: If I have found favour in your
sight, speak in the ears of Pharao:

5 For my father made me swear to him,
saying: Behold I die: thou shalt bury
me in my sepulchre which I have digged
for myself in the land of Chanaan. So
I will go up and bury my father, and
return.

6 And Pharao said to him: Go up and
bury thy father according as he made
thee swear.

7 So he went up, and there went with
him all the ancients of Pharao's house,
and all the elders of the land of Egypt,

8 And the house of Joseph with his
brethren, except their children, and their
flocks and herds, which they left in the
land of Gessen.

9 He had also in his train chariots and
horsemen: and it was it great company.

10 And they came to the threshingfloor
of Atad, which is situated beyond the
Jordan: where celebrating the exequies
with a great and vehement lamentation,
they spent full seven days.

11 And when the inhabitants of Chanaan saw this, they said: This is a great
mourning to the Egyptians. And there-
fore the name of that place was called,
The mourning of Egypt.

12 So the sons of Jacob did as he had
commanded them.

13 And carrying him into the land of
Chanaan, they buried him in the double
cave which Abraham had bought together with the held for a possession of
a buryingplace, of Ephron the Hethite
over against Mambre.

14 And Joseph returned into Egypt
with his brethren, and all that were in
his company, after he had buried his father.

15 Now he being dead, his brethren
were afraid, and talked one with another :
Lest perhaps he should remember the
wrong he suffered, and requite us all the
evil that we did to him.

16 And they sent a message to him, saying: Thy father commanded us before he
died,

17 That we should say thus much to thee from him: I beseech thee to forget
the wickedness of thy brethren, and the sin and malice they practiced
against thee: we also pray thee, to forgive the servants of the God of thy
father this wickedness. And when Joseph heard this, he wept.

18 And his brethren came to him: and worshipping prostrate on the ground
they said: We are thy servants.

19 And he answered them: Fear not: can we resist the will of God?

20 You thought evil against me: but God turned it into good, that he might
exalt me, as at present you see, and might save many people.

21 Fear not: I will feed you and your children. And he comforted them, and
spoke gently and mildly.

22 And he dwelt in Egypt with all his father's house: and lived a hundred
and ten years. And he saw the children of Ephraim to the third generation.
The children also of Machir the son of Manasses were born on Joseph's knees.

23 After which he told his brethren: God will visit you after my death, and
will make you go up out of this land, to the land which he swore to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob.

24 And he made them swear to him, saying: God will visit you, Carry my bones
with you out of this place:

25 And he died being a hundred and ten years old. And being embalmed he was
laid in a coffin in Egypt.